Ethereal Hearts
by xPandorasBoxx
Summary: PROBABLY ON PERMANENT HOLD (Klance Coffee Shop AU x Magic AU x Soulmate AU) Lance has always been interested in magic, ever since he first discovered it. He had always looked forward to meeting his soulmate... until he did.
1. Chapter 1 - Shadows and Skeletons

A gently breeze flew through the dark city, whistling past the ears of whistling children, dancing around in costumes. Ghosts danced around, jumping out into the night, while witches cast their spells, creating the faintest of lights. Stray autumn leaves blew around, their gentle colours lost to the darkness of the Halloween night. It was the one night where the city was quiet – no vehicles passing through, no loud music coming from various clubs, nothing. Almost all the lights in the city centre were out, other than the soft yellow lights, little balls glowing in lines, hovering through the streets like fireflies. One of the only remaining shops with any light was Ethereal, with a faded blue glow strong against the dark night

A small coffee shop at the end of the street, Ethereal was surprisingly popular. Many say that, unlike the standard coffee shops, scattered through towns across the realm, Ethereal used magic in the production of their goods. It was debatable just how true that was, though, since nobody had ever seen evidence of magic; if there was, it was very discrete.

On the late Halloween night, while most of the realm were off celebrating the night dedicated to their existence, one boy, Lance, worked away, closing the shop in which he had worked for a few years. The chocolate haired boy danced around the shop quietly, a gentle song playing in his head. He waved his hands around, and light trailed behind them, a soft low in their wake. The mess left in the shop began to clear itself up, gentle trails of blue light falling behind as used mugs raised from their places onto the table, plates cleaned themselves in the sink, seats returned to their places under the tables. The light faded away once everything was in its place. The boy then left the shop, locking up as he did so.

The boy saw his reflection in the shop window, faded and hard to make out, yet the face was not his. Smiling gently, he reached up to touch the black and white markings covering his soft features. His grin widened as he saw hands made of only bone appear. The spell was still intact.

Heading down the street at a gentle pace, the boy gently watched his surroundings; it had been so long since he had seen the city of Magic so dark, so silent. A few stray lights floated towards him, and when his bony hands touched the soft caramel light, they turned a dark shade of green, almost the colour of the grass, as his magic interacted with them, tainting their colour.

He retracted his hand and quickly headed down the streets, heading out of the city centre, to where faint sounds of music could be heard, the sound dancing with the wind, twirling round in soft pink hues, magic entangling the sounds.

The boy froze in his tracks as soft steps sounded, approaching him quietly. An eerie feeling filled the air, a shiver ran down his spine, and his breath caught in his throat. He could almost feel breath on his neck when –

Ting!

With a single sound, the atmosphere was broken. The shadow he had felt was gone, almost as though it was never there. He was once more alone.

He pulled out his phone to find a test message. 'Lance! Where are you? You're missing the party! You're still coming right?'. It was Hunk, his best friend. He quickly sent a reply, to confirm he was on his way. Picking up the pace, he continued out to the suburbs. A friend of Hunk's, Matt, was holding a party to celebrate Halloween, with dancing and music and costumes of many types. Hunk had insisted that Lance should come, knowing that he loved partying, and being surrounded by people, and since it was in costume, nobody would even recognise him.

Lance had always loved Halloween, ever since he was a kid, though truly one would expect that, since he had a natural talent for illusions, which the holiday was full of. It was an annual celebration, celebrating the magic that filled the air, and the return of Winter. Although he loved Summer, enjoying nothing more than spending his summers with his friends and family, going to beaches and having fun, he had always found something peaceful about Winter, and its silence. So every Halloween, in celebration, he used his illusions to create costumes for himself, which were almost entirely realistic. Of course, they were only illusions, so there were limits, but he loved being able to be someone else, even if just for the day.

Upon finding himself outside the large house, he ground to a stop. Slowly, he took each step one at a time, stepping gently upon the stepping stones that led up to the house. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but the house was far beyond his expectations. Lights were hung in little lanterns from the porch, little orbs dancing around. The house itself looked tall and daunting, yet welcoming. The soft orange glow of the lights gave it a soft, opening feel. The door open, faint conversations could be held from indoors.

He took the final step into the house, and found the sound suddenly amplified, and the music was much louder. He was immediately greeted by a short girl, who appeared to be around 16. Short auburn waves rested upon her shoulder, held firm under a simple black witch's hat. A little grey kitten sat upon her shoulder, its green eyes watching Lance disinterestedly. She wore striped tights with black shorts and a striped shirt, with a simple black cloak over the top.

"Hey, I'm Katie, and this is Jade," the girl said, motioning to the kitten, "Cool costume, it looks so real! You're not really a skeleton, right? Are you friends with Matt? I don't think I've met you before, but then again, I can't really tell with that costume."  
"I'm a friend of one of his friends… wait, are you Matt's little sister?" Lance replied, curiously, recalling having heard the name somewhere. The girl nodded. "So… your uncle owns Ethereal then?"

"How do you know that?" Katie asked, suspicious, "We don't exactly tell people about that…"

"Coran speaks very highly of you two, says you are geniuses, boasts that you're the smartest kids he knows, and that you're going to do great things. Now I think about it, I'm positive I've seen you around before…" Lance winked, disclosing no more information, before ducking into the crowd, to go find Hunk.

It wasn't difficult for the skeleton boy to find Hunk, after all, Hunk wasn't all that hard to miss. His costume was that of a werewolf, as he had wolf ears and a tail, though Lance thought that he looked less like a scary predator, but rather more like a fluffy lion – like Katie's kitten, Jade, but much larger. Seeing Hunk engaged in conversation with a girl dressed as a spirit, he decided to leave his friend to socialise, and do the same himself.

"Hey cutie, sweet costume."  
Lance turned around to find the source of the voice, and saw a girl dressed as a lake nymph. Long blonde hair fell down her front, reaching almost her waist, obscuring the view of her simple blue crop top, enchanted to show gently flowing water. Along with that, she wore a simple pastel blue skirt.

"Name's Lance, nice to meet you," He flirted, with a wink.

"I'm Nyma, wanna get something to drink?"

Lance made an apologetic face. "Sorry, can't. I've gotta babysit my cousins in the morning and I cannot deal with them and a hangover, so I'll have to pass."

Nyma pouted before getting distracted by a guy walking past. Lance looked back around the party after the blonde girl left him alone. It wasn't particularly crowded, but despite that, there were a great many people in the room.

A smirk formed on Lance's face as he noticed a flash of dark skin and snowflake white hair.

"Hey Princess, how you doin'," Lance flirted, winking.

"Lance," Allura sighed, rolling her eyes, her bright blue irises shining in the light. She was dressed up like a fairy, using similar magic to Lance's to create thin wings that sprouted from her back, between her shoulders blades. She wore a sparkly, pastel pink dress, and had small, arrow like markings under her eyes. Her trademark long snow coloured hair fell in curls down her back, glowing with a pink aura provided by the soft colours of her magic. "Your illusion is holding up strong, if it weren't for your tone and introduction, I wouldn't have even recognised you."

He simply laughed at her comment, "You know you love me." He winked again, but he was once more rejected with a roll of the eyes.

"Have you seen Shiro around?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly, not recognising the name. "Taller than you, around my age, black hair with a white streak?"

"Nope, you're the only white-haired beauty I've seen around here."

Allura sighed and bid him farewell, before going in search of the person she had called Shiro.

Rather than going to find someone else to talk to, Lance, finding the indoors to be rather warm, decided to go and try to find some fresh air. He soon stumbled onto a doorway which he hoped led to the garden, or the front door. He had been wondering around for a few minutes, and he was starting to feel lost, when he saw Katie walk through a doorway and felt a gentle breeze coming from that direction. Revelling in the cool air, he hardly noticed Katie walk past him into the house. He slowly made his way outdoors.

The second he crossed the threshold out of the house, he was thrust into a numbed quiet; the loud conversation that had filled his ears for the past half hour of conversing with random people as he tried to find his friends was replaced by a gentle calm. Soft lights danced around in the grass, rustled around with the leaves as the breeze danced around them, gentle and cool. A few stray lights had found their way into the trees, and they shone through the leaves, shy as the nymphs that inhabited the forest that stretched for as far as the eye could see, though it wasn't easy to see far in the fading light.

The skeleton boy threw his head back and stared into the sky, falling gently to the ground, where he lay peacefully, staring up at the stars. Soft light filled the sky from millions of miles away, yes it appeared like it was simply watching over hum, protecting him. The gentle blues and blacks blended together, with droplets of light splattered across the canvas, auras of all colours creating rainbows in the night sky. He let out a shaky breath in awe.

"It's so beautiful…"

"Isn't it?"

Lance half screamed and sat up at lightning speed, looking around for the source of the sound. It took a few seconds but he was able to make out a dark figure sat a few meters away from him, looking in his direction. He couldn't make out any of the figures features, as they appeared to be cloaked, a hood over their head, but from what he could tell by the numbed moonlight, they had purple eyes, that shone like the stars, full of awe and wonder.

"Where did you come from?!" Lance shrieked in a hushed tone, as to not disturb the quiet scene too much.

"I've been here for ages.. You're the one who decided to come and lay next to me," they shrugged, an action which almost went unnoticed in the dark of the night.

"Well I didn't see you there! What are you meant to be, anyway?" Lance asked them pointedly, his tone turning more curious.

"A shadow."

"Oh, how could I have possibly missed someone dressed as a _shadow, outdoors, in the middle of the night!"_

They rolled their eyes; that was something the boy _could_ see in the dark, as they shone from behind the hood, and the hair that appeared to be slightly obscuring their vision.

"Why are you out here, not inside, anyway?"

They simply sighed and looked away. Lance lay back down.

"Katie forced me to come, she wanted me to socialise but… I prefer it out here. It _was_ nice and quiet," they shot a pointed look at Lance, "but anyway, why'd you leave the party? You even properly dressed up and everything, don't you want to show off or something?"

Lance let out a small laugh. "What, this? Oh, it's not a costume, not really, it's just a little bit of magic. Just something simple that I can do; little kids love it." He lifted his hand and traced over the constellations that he could see, linking them up with little wisps of blue light.

Lance heard a shuffling sound as the figure moved closer, and he saw them look at the blue light in slight awe. He tired to make out the person's features, but he realised that they were wearing a mask under the hood, to darken their appearance, he supposed.

"How… do you do that…" Their voice was pure awe, and Lance had to hold back a blush at how adorable it sounded.

"It-" He cleared his throat, "It's easy!" Lance sat up, facing the shadow, and smiled.

"Just hold out your hand, a little way in front of you." He took their hand and held it to his, biting back a smile as he heard their breath catch slightly at the contact. "Focus your feelings into your fingertips, all that you feel, positive, calm emotions, and just…" he waved his hands in front of their face, slowly, and the blue light trailed slightly, and their indigo irises were tinted by the faint cerulean, the dark hair that fell into their eyes shone a deep blue, their soft lips, painted black, turned midnight blue in the light. Lance looked into their eyes, while they focused on their hand. Lance's light faded out, and a soft red light took over. Their eyes lit up with joy as they lifted their hand to their eyes, before looking into Lance's.

Their breath caught as they realised how close their faces were, and they dropped their hand. Lance's hand fell, landing on their shoulder. They lifted their hand once more, a movement that Lance felt rather than saw, as their hand moved to his cheek. They were only mere millimetres away, and then the distance between them was closed.

What felt like an eternity later, but was likely seconds, they pulled apart. Lance opened his eyes, saw indigo staring back at him, and then they were gone in a flash of red light, and the shadow was nowhere to be seen.

They were gone.


	2. Chapter 2 - Memories and Memes

"Order for Rolo?"

A joyful grin spread across Lance's face as he worked at the bar, making orders and serving customers. Strange as it may seem, he loved his job. Every order he made, every drink he mixed, he did it with emotion. After all, that was Ethereal's _thing._

"Thanks man," a guy who he assumed to be Rolo came up to the counter. Just taller than Lance, he stood proud and confident, white blonde hair falling over his eyes as he smirked at the shorter boy, taking his drink. Tan skin and pierced ears; the boy looked like he owned the world, confidence oozing out of his every move. Lance found himself envious of the light-haired boy, wishing he had that much confidence.

"No problem." Lance winked, before moving on to the next order.

As he mixed the milk and coffee, swirling them around in the cup, creating vortexes of milky goodness, he focussed his emotions; tranquillity, happiness, satisfaction, and he released a fraction of them into the mix, through a small splash of cerulean blue magic. Throwing in a couple different flavours of syrup, as required for the order, he quickly finished the drink, passing it to the customer who had ordered it.

Nothing compared to the feeling of satisfaction he felt when he saw the smile of pure glee that adorned the faces of his customers when he made them drinks; it warmed his heart.

"Lance," A voice called, "I'm about to take my break, can you cover the front while I do so?"

He looked over at Allura, and saw that there were no customers at the time being, not that he expected there to be any, since it had just passed three, and the lunch rush died around then, until the end of work and evening rush came piling in.

"Sure, you going to go talk to Shiro?"

Allura nodded, her face void of emotion. She and Shiro had been pretty close over the past couple months, and Shiro had started to develop feelings, but he took it pretty hard when Allura rejected him when he asked her out. Everyone felt bad for them both, because it had taken a lot for Shiro to work up the courage, but it also wouldn't have worked between them.

"Okay… be careful with him though… You know, he's still hurting and I'm not sure if you're the best person to talk to him. I'm sure he understands _why_ you rejected him, but he's still in pain. He still might not be ready to talk to you…"  
"It's been two weeks, Lance. We've been friends for _years…_ " Allura sighed, before conjuring up a smile and leaving the front counter, to go take her break.

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuunkkkkkkk," Lance called loudly, "I'm boreddddd."

Hunk walked out of the kitchen, where he had been working, baking cakes and various other things to be placed on the front counter.

"Lance, you're meant to be working," Hunk said, leaning against the archway with a straight face, arms crossed.

Lance motioned all around him. "If you haven't noticed – we have no customers! Who am I meant to serve!"

"Them."

Lance turned around to see two people walking in the entrance, a small, melodic bell ringing upon entry. Hunk smiled and walked over to them, a smile on his face.

"Hey Pidge! You actually decided to leave the house?" Hunk said looking at the shorter of the two customers.

Lance observed them carefully. The shorter of the two was a girl, about 16, with short, auburn waves sitting upon her shoulders. Golden eyes shone from behind a pair of black rimmed glasses, focussed on Hunk. Lance recognised the girl; Katie – she was at the Halloween party two weeks ago. The owner of Ethereal, Coran, was her uncle.

He turned his attention to the other customer. He was about a foot taller than Katie, with raven hair that was tied back in a small ponytail on the back of his head. Like Katie, he had a fringe, however his was longer, and fell into his eyes. From what Lance could tell from his place behind the counter, they appeared to be a medium grey colour, perhaps silver. He was quite pale, and other than splashes of white and grey, his outfit was completely black. Lance didn't recognise him from anywhere.

"Yeah, I'm trying to teach Keith how to socialise, and the best way to start is to get him out of the house… And the only way that I can do that… is by also leaving the house." She let out an overdramatic sigh, and her friend, Keith, just rolled his eyes in response.

"Hey, Hunk, how do you know these guys?" Lance piped in, full of curiosity.

"Pidge here is in my engineering class at the college; we often work together on Projects. She's a total tech nerd, two years above the rest of her class."

"I'm only two years ahead because I put in a lot of extra work and I've already been studying it since I was small because Matt was also interested in Engineering and Physics so he taught me a lot when I was younger," She corrected Hunk, before turning to Lance, "I'm Katie, by the way."

"So why does Hunk call you Pidge then?"

"We don't talk about that incident." Pidge's tone was cold and her eyes were set into a strong glare, warning Hunk not to say anything.

"Aww…" Hunk pouted. "So did you want any coffee or food? Or are you just here to hang out?"

"I'll have a hot chocolate with extra cream and a shot of expresso… Keith?"

"Uh… I don't know…" Keith's voice was low and quiet, as though he was unsure of his words.

"Just make him anything. Have fun with it. He normally just drinks cheap instant stuff." Katie sent Lance a smile and paid, and the two of them took a seat. Lance set to work on making the drinks. He mixed Katie's full of energy and enthusiasm, channelling whatever passion he could into the mix, before adding the chocolate, cream, syrup and sprinkles. He knew that she hated marshmallows, from previous orders, so left them out. When it came to making Keith's order, he started by just making a simple base of walk milk, and infusing in different flavours of syrup to give it an extra sweet taste. The boy looked like he drank too much bitter coffee, so Lance decided to test his opinion of sweet things. Before he finished, he channelled all of his happiest memories; the time when he found out he was going to be an uncle, the times when he was playing with his younger cousins, when he and Hunk had become friends, when he finally learned how to control his magic, when he had his first kiss on Halloween under the stars with someone he didn't even know, and poured it all into a small snowflake, which fell into the cup and slowly melted in, blending in a light blue glow, which faded out of sight as soon as he added the coffee in.

Just as he was walking over to the table, Katie stood up, and Keith looked at her in confusion.

"I just remembered an assignment that's due tomorrow that I haven't started, I need to go talk to Hunk about it – Don't you dare leave. If you do…" She gave Keith a threatening look, and he put his hands up in surrender. She turned to Lance. "Thanks for the drink."

She grabbed her hot chocolate and headed into the kitchen, where Hunk was baking something, leaving Lance alone with Keith in an empty shop.

"Here's your drink." Lance held out the drink to Keith, a grin on his face. "You've gotta tell me what you think; I can't figure out what you should order unless you tell me what you think, and you _can't_ just drink instant coffee – it's nowhere near as good, man."

Keith took the coffee into his hands, holding it cautiously with two hands, which were covered by fingerless gloves, and just stared at it. Lance flopped into the seat next to him, since there were no other customers. Thursdays were rather quiet days, it seemed.

He slowly lifted the cup to his lips, not looking at Lance. He slowly began to drink, and then he froze. Lance's smile faltered for a second, not seeing any reaction and assuming the worst.

"Do you not like it?" Lance said, with a slight frown forming on his features. He didn't get a response. After a few more seconds, Keith unfroze, and kept drinking, a slight flush appearing on his cheeks, or that might have been Lance's imagination.

"That… tastes amazing." Keith said strongly, staring into Lance's eyes. "How… how did you even make it… do that?"

"Magic." Lance winked, secretively. "Do what?" He added a few seconds later, out of curiosity.

"Something about it… brought up memories… happy memories…" He flushed, and avoided looking Lance in the eye. He instead turned his attention to the walls, painted with intricate details of an enchanted world, almost like the one in which they lived, in some respect, yet so very different at the very same time.

Lance didn't say anything else, and then the bell rang, reminding Lance that he was still working, and that he needed to serve the customers. Shortly after, Pidge returned from the kitchen, and the two of them left, drinks in hand. For the rest of his shift, Lance found himself wondering what memories Keith had seen for them to have such an effect.

Gentle spirals swirled around the ceiling, delicate white flakes desperate to free themselves from the material which enchained them. They danced wildly, falling like snowflakes, but were no more than tiny icicles, trapped forever in their solidified format. It was upon considering this that Lance realised that he was really, _really_ bored.

"Huuunk." The blue eyed boy directed his eyes away from the ceiling, sitting up on the sofa once more, and turning to his friend, who was busy cooking away in the kitchen. "I'm boreddddd."

He dragged the words on for as long as he could, before letting out an overdramatic sigh, flopping ungracefully back into his previous position, laying across the sofa, staring up at the ceiling.

"Dude, I love you, but you need to get a life. You're constantly spending all your free time moping around the apartment, and other than me, you hardly interact with anyone outside of work…"

Lance gasped exaggeratedly. "I have a life! It's just that my life also happens to be my job and since I don't go to college like you or Katie, and I'm not super rich like Allura, I don't have anything else to do!"

"You could visit your family?"

"I babysit my cousins every week, I love my family but I already see them so much, man."

"You know what you need?"

Lance looked up with interest. "A hobby. Or a partner. You know, so you have someone else to hang out with when Katie and I are working, and when I have a shift or I'm hanging out with Shay."

"I have hobbies! I painted the interior of Ethereal _and_ enchanted it! And I play videogames!" He pouted up at the ceiling, before rising off the sofa to go stand by his friend as he cooked. "So, you and Shay been hanging out more, eh?" He winked suggestively.

"It's not like that," Hunk sighed, looking at him pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. It's totally platonic but, like, she's your soulmate, right? I can see it in the way you talk about her, how much you care. I saw the grin on your face when the two of you were talking on Halloween – don't try to deny it, I was there!"

A smile graced his features, and it was clear that he was thinking of her.

"It's just… we have so much in common, and it was fated, and when we first met, we just _knew._ Even if it wasn't in a romantic way, we still knew."

"What's it like? Meeting your soulmate, I mean. I get that for you it would've been different than it will be for me, but still…" Lance sighed, leaning against Hunk, his arm resting on the larger boy's shoulder.

"There was just… a pull. Like, even if I wanted to leave, or had somewhere to be, it was as though there was a spell cast on me, and my focus was on her and her alone. It wasn't immediate, it wasn't until we started talking that it started to take effect, but that's what they say happens at the First Meeting."

"How will I know if I meet them… what if I've already met them! What if I don't have a soulmate! I've heard of people who don't have soulmates, they usually seem to have an affinity for magic and oh boy I use magic all the time, am I going to be alone for the rest of my life. Will I have to go and live alone in the desert, passing my time creating conspiracy theories and entertaining myself with illusions?"

"Lance." Hunk turned to face the boy, resting his hands upon his shoulders, looking him in the eye. "You'll know when you find them. Perhaps you already have, and you just didn't notice it, maybe you haven't. But if you find yourself in a First Meeting, trust your instincts; don't freak out over it. If it's meant to be, it will be. Of course, that doesn't mean you don't have to put work in. After all, some people have first meetings in the weirdest of situations – maybe they'll be completely smitten with you straight away, maybe they won't even remember you after a week. Maybe you won't remember them. But remember, Lance. If they're your _Soulmate,_ you'll know."

"Okay, got it, big guy."

For the rest of that evening, all he could think about was the Halloween party two weeks ago. The way he had felt. His lack of need to leave, despite being in a really weird situation with a complete stranger. Yet, despite the fact that it had been playing like a broken record, stuck on repeat, it took him until 3am, when he lay in bed, resting on his side as he scrolled through his feed, taking in the memes, to realise. He had met his soulmate. And he didn't even have a clue what they looked like.

It was official. He was moving to another planet.


	3. Chapter 3 - Soulmates and Spirits

"Hunk you've _gotta_ help me!"

Lance's pleading tone was desperate, even though he knew there wasn't a whole lot Hunk would be able to do. Unless Hunk could travel back in time and find out who the mysterious stranger who Lance had kissed in the Holt's garden on Halloween, he would be stuck with the fact that he had met his soulmate, and had absolutely _no_ idea who they were, and had little to no way of finding out.

"So let me get this straight. You met someone on a chance occasion, showed them some magic, talked about some stars, you kissed, and they disappeared in a flash of light?"

Lance nodded. Hunk let out a low whistle.

"Wow. Wait, you said it was at Matt and Katie's party?"

Lance nodded again, slightly nervously, seeing the glint in Hunk's eye.

"Then we should ask her if she knows who it was!"

Lance froze up and started frantically shaking his head. "No way! It's embarrassing enough simply telling _you_ that I managed to mess up the first meeting with my soulmate, no way am I telling someone I hardly know! And… what if she does know, and she tells me who it was and then I know that they're my soulmate but they don't know I'm theirs, oh gods what if they don't believe me, or they reject me! I'm not ready! You said it should happen naturally, right?"

"Well I wasn't exactly expecting _these_ to be your circumstances, but… yes. It would be better if the two of you met and got along without meeting _because_ you're soulmates, but really the fact you're soulmates is just an added bonus."

Lance planted his face into Hunk's chest, and Hunk patted him on the back sympathetically. "Your soulmate is a shadow… That's rough dude."

The ringing sound of the bell on the door of Ethereal Coffee put an end to the moment – Lance had work to do, and he couldn't let some silly thoughts about his soulmate, who he wasn't even certain he would meet again, get in the way of improving someone's day.

"Hello, welcome to Ethereal! What can I get you today!"

Later that afternoon, Katie and her friend, Keith, stopped by the shop, to grab a coffee. Since Allura was working on the front desk at that time, Lance didn't get to greet them, but he still made them their drinks, and took them over to them. He was slightly surprised by Keith's order – it was pretty similar to what he had made the boy the previous day; sweeter than the average coffee by a mile, with extra syrups and flavourings which were enough to make one's teeth rot.

"Hey," Katie said to Lance, when he brought them their drinks, "I know we just met and all, but I wanted to invite you and Hunk round to hang this weekend. I was going to invite Hunk anyway, but since you're his best friend, I figured you might want to come along too. And don't worry, Keith here will be here to keep you company if we get distracted by some project. He could use the company."

"Hey!" Keith exclaimed, giving the girl an amazed look, "I'm right here! You really need to stop trying to get me to make friends with _every person we meet_. I'm perfectly happy with my friends now." His glance shifted to Lance and he quickly added, "Not that I don't want to be your friend or anything! I didn't mean that in a mean way I just-" He placed his head on the table, muttering to himself incoherently.

Lance laughed slightly, smiling at Katie, who had started balancing spoons on Keith's head as it remained still against the table.

"I'll text Hunk when I get a break, but it sounds like it will be fun… I'm in!" He sent them a wink and got back to work making drinks. The last thing he wanted right then was for Allura to get on his back about slacking off to talk to his new friends – He had only just met them and would prefer to not be embarrassed by his boss straight away; it wouldn't make a particularly good impression.

While he was working, he occasionally walked past the various tables, when checking up on his customers, seeing if they wanted anything else. He caught himself flirting with half the customers, and making casual conversation with the other half. It was one of his favourite things about the job; other than the fact that he got to put his magic to good use. When he was returning to the counter, he looked over to the table where Katie and Keith were sat, and saw Katie typing away on her laptop, eyes scanning the page quickly as she took in information, while Keith sat relaxed, reading away at a book with a bunch of strange symbols on the front. Runes? Perhaps the boy had more of an interest in magic that he had initially thought.

It turned out he had a lot to learn about his new friends, and that weekend seemed to be the perfect time to learn it.

Three days later, on Friday night, Lance found himself not far from where he had grown up. Aimlessly patrolling the streets, the boy found himself lost in thought. Many spells that he had learnt swam through his mind, clouding his thoughts, and he felt himself being pulled towards a familiar setting; a small forest where he had grown up, a forest he had magically transformed into one that looked like it was straight out of a studio Ghibli movie; magical and peaceful. As he walked, he subconsciously let his illusions take form around him, a soft magic turning his features faint, almost ghostlike. It wasn't that he had anyone to hide from, but to him, his forest had always been a place of secrecy, and it was hard to break the habit of hiding who he was, once inside.

His footsteps were soft and quiet, the gentle rusting of autumn leaves underfoot barely making a sound. A soft tune carried in the wind, an orchestra of sound that left him at peace. The trees lost their medium brown hues, and began to fade to a darker black, the patterns on their trunks no longer natural bark patterns, but rather runes, carved into the trees themselves. Soft white leaves fell to the ground, a gentle magical glow encasing them. They were strung to the branches with seams of silk, gentle white bright against the dark blackened limbs, reaching out into the night. Flowers upon the grass turned gentle hues, their petals clear as glass. Little mushrooms sprouted between the flowers, glowing blue and bright, lighting up the night.

A smile graced Lance's ghostlike features. Only at night was it like this, under the light of the moon, when magic was at its strongest. The most beautiful night to have visited would have been Halloween; when the forest was at full power; little white bunnies sprinting through the trees, like ghosts in the night, birds singing in their nests, their song soothing all that existed for miles. Gentle pixies would even emerge from their hiding to dance upon the leaves, play in the crystal flowers, sing with the songbirds. It was the most ethereal experience, and it filled Lance with pride that he had been able to make such a place; craft a home for those born of magic.

Not long after Lance had begun changing it from its previous setting, a child of just six, had the pixies began to arrive. Drawn to the forest by its natural magical aura, enhanced by a small boy who wanted to make it brighter, they found their new home. He had heard of other magic users finding themselves drawn to his forest, the magical pull difficult to resist, and they had told tales. However, very few who weren't magic users seemed to enter; the strong magical vibes too much, forcing them away in attempts to hide its secrets from those who may seek to cause it harm.

As he neared the clearing in which he spent a fair amount of his childhood, he began to get the feeling that he was no longer alone. The illusion formed around him strengthened, and his skin turned a semi-transparent blue, causing him to give off a faint glow, his features modified ever so slightly that he would be unrecognisable as anyone specific, rather just another face in the crowd. His heart began to race, as he noticed a vaguely familiar figure, under the light of the glowing trees; the moonlight magic shining through the gaps to create mini spotlights. Then the figure turned to him, and Lance froze.

Glowing purple eyes.

They froze, staring back at Lance, clearly not expecting anyone else to be at the forest at that sort of time. He went to move, and Lance impulsively called to him, his voice not much more than a whisper. " _Wait…"_ They didn't move, their eyes focussed on him. They were wearing clothes very similar to before; black jeans and a black hoodie, obscuring their face, and once more, a black mask to obscure their features enough to remain anonymous. "Shadow?"

"You're… the skeleton boy?" Shadow whispered, their voice low and heavy as surprise filled their bright purple eyes. They looked away, and the moonlight no longer touched their features, and Lance could no longer see their eyes' purple hue.

"Yeah…" Lance was breathless, and his words caught in his throat. He wanted to tell them everything; explain to them all that he had come to realise, that he was certain that they were soulmates, that he wanted to know who they were, that it was fate that they had met, but those words wouldn't come out. "How… Why are you here?" He said, finally managing to say something. He took a step closer to Shadow, as he had resigned to calling them, not yet knowing who they were.

"The pull of the magic… I come here every month…" They looked down at the ground, their fists clenched, their tone heavy as though there was something they weren't saying."

"So… you use magic too?" Lance spoke before he realised what he was doing, and Shadow snapped their head up to look at him. "I mean, non-magic users can't come here… and with how quickly you ran away that night, I should've guessed."

They averted their eyes, embarrassed. "I…" They didn't know what to say, and instead focussed on a nearby rock.

"It- it's okay…" Lance said, smiling softly, "I can't blame you, I didn't mean to… I just… the moment and… I'm sorry…" Lance looked down at the ground, embarrassed.

"Don't be." Shadow looked up at Lance strongly, and he felt his face flush, though he wasn't sure how visible it was under the glamour. Shadow stood up, and Lance could've sworn he saw a few pixies hiding behind the flowers where they had been sitting. They took a step closer to Lance. "It wasn't _just_ you…"

"Oh?"

Lance took a step forward.

"I… ran away because I didn't know how you would react… a complete stranger, caught up in the moonlight's spell…"

"But it wasn't just the moonlight's spell, though, was it." Lance's eyes lit up with hope as he gazed into shadow's beautiful, violet eyes. They narrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been thinking it over… and I've been feeling more and more confident with every passing second. That wasn't moonlight magic. It was Soul magic. The fated First Meeting."

Shadow's eyes widened and they took a step back. "No…" They took another step back. "I… I can't…" They moved a fair distance away, and Lance felt a stabbing pain in his heart. "Soul magic isn't a good thing. It's a curse. All it does is make people believe that things are meant to be, and then it tears them apart."

Shadow disappeared with a flash of red. Lance fell to the floor, tears in his eyes. Not only did his soulmate not believe in soulmates being meant to be, but they probably never wanted to see Lance again. Tears began to stream from his eyes, silently, and the bright magic of the forest began to fade, the foundation which other magic had built upon weakened, as their original source cried in the centre of the forest, their hopes crushed.

He didn't notice that he was being watched, a shadow watching from behind a tree, watching the light fade from the forest they had come to call home. "What have I done…" Then, they were gone, leaving the boy alone in a fading forest.


	4. Chapter 4 - Kittens and Keith

He didn't want to move. He didn't want to get out of bed, he didn't want to go to Katie's house. He didn't want to hang out with Katie, Hunk and Keith. He didn't want to spend his day socialising. He didn't want to go to work and do his weekend shift the next day. He just wanted to lay in bed for the rest of his life, moping and feeling sorry for himself. He didn't care how pathetic it was; he was perfectly content with never moving again. Because his soulmate, the one person in this whole world who was meant to be perfect for him had rejected him, _to his face,_ and told him that soulmates were stupid!

"Lance, stop moping around and get up, else I'll carry you there in your bedclothes, and walk there so that everyone can see you with your bedhead."

Lance groaned and sat up, running his hand through this hair. It was indeed a mess. He dragged himself to the mirror, and took in his appearance. The heavy circles around his eyes, the mess of hair on top of his head at all angles, sticking out disobediently, or simply falling sideways, awkward and annoying.

Groaning, he went to the shower and turned on the hot tap, hoping to drown his sorrows. It didn't work. But at least he was showered, and all it took was a splash of magic to clear up his skin, remove the red circles around his eyes, and pull his hair back into its normal fashion. He eyed the undercut with a smile, before ruffling his hair up, to give it a bit of a poof, as it fell to the side of his eyes. Smirking, he threw on a casual blue t-shirt and light grey skinny jeans. His outer walls were built up tall, his illusions there to protect him from any pain. Though, that hadn't worked before.

A frown once again formed on his face, but he shook it off, and headed out into the living room where Hunk was waiting.

"You alright buddy?" Hunk could see through his happy façade, but he kept it up anyway.

"Nope, but let's go. Nothing's gonna get better if I just stay in bed all day."

"Aww, buddy!" Hulk pulled the boy into a hug, completely engulfing Lance, but he didn't say a word, he simply smiled at enjoyed it.

"C'mon, don't wanna be late!"

Lance had completely forgot that they were going to Katie's house. The place where he had met his soulmate. Where he had had his first kiss. About two weeks previous. A shiver ran down his spine as he looked at the house.

"Hey, buddy, you okay?" Hunk looked at him, nervously. "If you really don't feel great we could cancel… I don't want to force you into anything…" Hunk wrung his hands together nervously, looking at the smaller boy with a frown.

"No… it's okay. I didn't even know them anyway, it was no big deal." Lance didn't mention that he'd been having troubles with his magic, that he couldn't cast up enough magic to make blue lights, or droplets of emotion, like he used to be able to. He smiled, and tried his best to make it look genuine, and they knocked on the door.

It opened a few seconds later, as Katie stood there with a grin on her face.

"Welcome to my place, losers! If you want any refreshments or anything, you can grab anything you want from the kitchen. Matt is upstairs playing videogames, so you might see him come down for refreshments at some point. But he might just hide away in his room all day, knowing him."

A small kitten came up and rubbed its head against Hunk's leg, and he immediately reached down and picked up the little grey fur ball.

"Aww hey there! How's my favourite little green lion doing!"

They entered the house, and Lance tried not to focus on the memories he had, but rather on the interior itself. Walking into the living room, his focus went immediately to the picture frames on the walls. There were photos of their family; Katie, Matt, their parents and their dog, as well as pictures of them individually. The house looked so homely, and it reminded him of his own, except a lot quieter. He could never get a moment of silence at home, partly because he had so many siblings and they were always arguing, and partly because of all the younger cousins. While most of his family moved out as he grew up, they spent a lot of time at the family home, so their mother wouldn't be alone, and because it allowed all the kids to play together. Lance missed growing up in a large house, and he sometimes felt a bit lonely, just living with Hunk, because as much as he loved Hunk, as a brother, Hunk was constantly busy, and it left Lance feeling alone sometimes.

He turned away from the photos to see a kitten pawing at his leg. He was expecting it to be Jade, but this kitten was black, with bright green eyes. He didn't realise they had two cats.

"Red!" The kitten stopped pawing at his leg and meowed. Lance turned to Keith, who had called to the kitten.

He walked over and picked it up in his arms. "Sorry about that, Red doesn't normally like other people…"

"Red?" Lance chuckled, looking at the little kitten. Keith blushed.

"Katie and I adopted Red and Jade at the same time… they're siblings, and their parents passed away. I… am not good with names, and, well, Katie named hers Jade, since her favourite colour is green, and mine is red but I couldn't think of another word for red that would suit him…" Lance looked up at Keith with a smile.

"That's cute."

"So, _boys,"_ Katie said, with a smirk, "Are you ready to lose at every single game we play?"

A few hours later, Lance was pouting and refusing to talk to anyone. Having lost five games in a row, his pride was wounded, and he refused to lose anymore. Hunk was rather relaxed about games, and he seemed too calm and happy about whatever happened, but he _still_ constantly did better than Lance. Katie was a demon; she left no survivors when she battled, winning all games with complete domination. Even Keith had a dark side when it came to playing games – Had Lance not been there, he wouldn't have believed that the dark-haired emo boy, who had a kitten who he named red, who was a dork who loved magic and studied it whenever he could, would throw his whole self into a competition. He would form alliances, and slay all his enemies, until he defeated them, at which point he turned on his friends to win. Of course, Katie was even more ruthless and destroyed Keith at that point, but he seemed totally relaxed by his loss. Unlike Lance, who was extremely competitive and _hated_ losing.

He always used to lose to his siblings and they found it funny when he got upset over losing, except his sister Mira, who would always help Lance, and make sure that he beat her, and would always let him win at games. She was his favourite. Obviously, none of his new friends were as nice as his older sister, and would instantly crush Lance without a second thought.

"Aww… c'mon Lance, come back and play!" Hunk tried to get Lance to rejoin the game but he refused, continuing to pout. Then he felt a gentle paw on his leg, and looked down to see Red meow at him. He looked at the adorable little fluffball and couldn't resist smiling.

"How come Red likes _him!_ Red doesn't like anyone! Red doesn't even like me and I'm like, his aunt!" Katie exclaimed, crossing her arms and pouting.

Lance simply turned around and stuck his tongue out at Katie, before petting the little black kitten.

"Okay, _fine._ How about we play a team game. That was Lance can't complain when he loses at everything."

"I just came out to have a good time and I'm honestly feeling so attacked right now!"

Hunk and Katie rolled their eyes.

"Lance, you're such an outdated meme."

"Anyway, I was thinking charades?" Katie said, as Lance stuck his tongue out at Hunk.

The two boys looked at each other with massive grins.

"Oh, it's on. Me and Hunk vs you and Keith." Lance grinned, confident in his and Hunk's ability to communicate nonverbally. They had been doing it in class since they were kids. His confidence, however, dipped a little at the confident smirks adorning both Keith and Katie's faces.

"Game _on!"_

This was going to be _fun_.

The two teams sat on opposite sofas, with Jade curled up on Katie's lap, watching the other team, and Red pawing at Lance for attention, mewing quietly.

"Okay, so this is how we're doing this," Katie said, with a smirk, "We're going to pick a card, and in the given time, you've got to figure out what they're trying to say. If you fail, the other team get a point. If you win, you get a point. Guessing doesn't have to be exact, since that is way too boring."

"Let the games begin!"

Totally hyped up, Lance watched as team K went first, and Keith made some strange gestures, to which Katie immediately answered the right answer. He narrowed his eyes as he watched them win the point. It was their turn.

Hunk took the card, and then started dancing around, waving his arms like a monkey.

"Uh.. monkey! Chimpanzee! Orangutan! Gorilla!" Hunk nodded and returned to his seat. The game was on, and he _wasn't_ going to lose.

25 minutes later, they gave up. Unless Katie and Keith lost the next 10 matches _and_ Hunk and Lance won theirs, there was no way they could win. Katie and Keith hadn't lost a single round.

"You've _gotta_ be cheating! You didn't even dance around like fools like myself and Hunk, you just made weird signs with your hands!" Lance pouted, turning his attention to little red, the fluffball having curled up on his lap to take a nap.

"Hey, there wasn't anything in the rules that said we couldn't communicate non-verbally. It's not _our_ fault we made up our own sign language when we were kids."

"That's not fair!" Hunk pouted, crossing his arms.

"All's fair in love and war. When it comes to games, it's war."

"I don't like this game," Lance groaned. He still hadn't won a _single_ game. If he wanted to win, he needed something that couldn't rely on knowledge, because Katie and Hunk were too smart for him, and it couldn't be chance either, because he was unlucky. He needed something he was good at if he wanted to win.

"Why don't we play a team game?" Keith suggested, gaining their attention.

"What, where we all have to…" Katie shuddered in horror, " _Work together?"_

He rolled his eyes at the girl, shaking his head slightly. "Yes, Katie, teamwork. I know we've got that teamwork game somewhere… where did Dad put it?"

"I think it's over there on the shelf of games we never play because we're all too competitive and can't work together."

"Makes sense…" Lance muttered to himself, still giving Red his attention, petting the kitten carefully, as though not to wake him.

"Here it is!" Keith brought the game over, and unlike what Lance was expecting, it was a videogame.

The game had four characters on it, and they were all wearing Armour; red, blue, green and yellow. They each had a different weapon, and they seemed to be fighting an enemy. Lance had to admit, it looked interesting.

"It's a videogame, so I'll have to set up the tv, Hunk can you come help?"

Keith moved onto the sofa next to Lance as the others set up the tv so they could play the game.

"Red seems to like you, huh?"

"He's such a cute little kitten, I wish I had one…"

"Why don't you get one?"

"I never really thought about it… I guess with all the time I spend at work I figured I wouldn't have time for one…"

"Alright, all set up!"

The two boys looked over at Katie, who appeared in front of them to pass the remotes.

"I'm playing as Blue!" Lance immediately claimed Blue, because it was _his_ colour and nobody was going to take that from him.

"I'm Red!"

"Green."

"I guess that leaves me with Yellow," Hunk said, with a grin.

The title screen for the game showed up, the words "Legendary Defenders" in a bright, bold font, with a symbol of a lion next to it.

They each selected their player, and the game began. Lance and Keith were together on one side of the screen, Katie and Hunk on the other.

"SO what are we doing?" Lance questioned.

"We're known as 'Paladins', and we have to save the Universe from this threat known as the Galra. Kate, Matt and I never got past Sendak though, because if you die, that's it, you're out of the game. You can be healed, if you get in a healing pod, but that only happens at the castle. As the game progresses, you unlock more characters, but the only new character we managed to unlock was red; it was originally just Green, Blue and Yellow, back when they were on earth. We reached a save point, though." Keith explained, talking the others through the game.

They worked together, getting the hang of being in the game, and started doing initial Paladin training, when disaster struck.

"Sendak," Katie said through gritted teeth.

"Katie, you need to hide; Green has the best skill when it comes to tech; the system is down and you need to reboot it from the main control system." Lance spoke with authority, and Katie did as she was told. "Keith, you're with me and the Black Paladin, Hunk, you go with the Princess; make sure she makes it to the main control deck so that she can purify the crystal and remove the galra infection."

Hunk and Pidge ran off, and Keith and Lance began to fight. They managed to take out several drones before Lance was hit by Sendak, who had appeared behind them, throwing him into a wall, knocking him unconscious.

"Lance!"

"I'm okay, just keep fighting Sendak with the Black Paladin, Katie will be able to reboot the system in a minute, right Kate?"

"Yeah, I'm almost into the system, and I can kick this Galra Virus right out of our castle!"

"Hunk, how's getting the Princess to safety going?"

"We're almost there, it'll only take another minute, make sure Lance doesn't get killed in the meantime!"

Keith swung into action, taking out the rest of the drones as he fought with his sword, moving as quickly as he could. As soon as he was done, he ran to Lance's side, or rather, Blue's side, and protected him. He watched as Sendak and the Black Paladin fought, as he defended against the drones which kept coming his way.

"System is back up!"

"Crystal clear!"

"It's just up to you two now!"

Lance saw the light on his screen beginning to return, as he regained consciousness, and he quickly turned his camera to were Sendak was, and watched the Black Paladin thrown down, and Lance fired.

"MISSION COMPLETED!" Large words appeared on the screen, as Lance's turned black once more.

"Yeah, good work team!" Hunk said, congratulating everyone.

"That worked better than last time, good plan, Lance!"

"I didn't see you doing much," Lance teased Keith.

"I fought Sendak!"

"Yeah, and I emerged out of a coma and shot him!"

"We had a bonding moment…"

The two kept their firm stares, before bursting into laughter, joined by Hunk and Katie seconds later.

"There is only one way to settle this. _Dance Battle!"_

Lance completely forgot about his previous woes, and had never felt happier than he was in that moment, surrounded by his friends, laughing over games, a kitten purring on his lap. He was truly happy.


	5. Chapter 5 - Bookshops and Backtracking

A gentle breeze passed through the streets, brushing through Lance's chocolate brown locks, forcing them into his eyes. Scarf dancing freely, eyes watering from the cold, the boy made his way forth.

It was November 14th, and he needed to find a gift for Maria; his older sister. Maria was a lot like Lance in appearance; they had the same caramel skin, chocolate hair and bright aquamarine eyes, but Maria was shorter than him, by several inches, and was much less lanky. Unlike Mika, Maria wasn't particularly loud or outgoing, and didn't have the same relationship with Lance. They were close growing up, being the youngest of the siblings, but Maria was less interested in playing games with her little brother, and more interested in reading books. It was Maria, however, that had taught him all about magic, and they had learnt to use it together.

Maria's birthday was in a few days, and he had left buying a gift until last minute. Usually he was much more prepared, but he hadn't seen his sister in a long time; she left to go to University two years ago, graduating a year early to study magic in its practicality in the real world, which was a course which was more open to students; those who studied Magic rather than core subjects didn't have as much to study, so their time at high school was cut short as they moved into specialisation at universities. Though he was proud of his sister for following her dreams, he still missed her.

Lance had four older siblings; Maria, Mika, Loki and Adrian. Adrian was in his late twenties, and married with two children. His eldest daughter, Alyse, who was 9, with golden hair and chocolate eyes, loved Lance, who was like his little sister rather than niece, since Adrian and his, at the time girlfriend, Kira, had lived at home, being only 17. The youngest was Thalia, aged 6, a little girl with glowing blonde hair and bright green eyes, like her mother. Loki was still single, at 24, and wasn't looking for a partner. He claimed he didn't have a soulmate, and worked on research into animals; specifically, lizards and their winged cousins. He worked for a scientific agency which was looking into the study of dragons, and were interested in genetic modification of lizards to create their winged cousins. Mika was 22, turning 23 in November. She had two kids, twins, Lana and Percy. They were both 3, and Lance babysat them often, since Mika's partner had died shortly after they were born, and Mika had a job as a photographer, and she occasionally had to leave for a few days and couldn't take the twins. His mother often cared for them, but when she was unable, Lance took them in, and they would go with him to Ethereal, where they would entertain customers, and be entertained by Lance's illusions.

Upon reaching the local bookshop, Fable, Lance slowed to a stop. The shop was quaint, with wooden archways forming an entrance, shaped like branches of trees. Soft flowers grew on the wood, encased in magic so that they would bloom forever, frozen in time at their most beautiful. Glazed glass windows covered the rest of the shop entrance, showing great bookshelves of colour, tall wooden oak shelves like trees, shelves carved into the trees themselves, rather than the typical shelves at shops.

Upon entrance, it reminded him of his forest, in the way of the magical vibe, yet it felt so different. It gave a homey vibe, and he almost wanted to just take a seat on the grass floor, grab a book and spend the next month reading. It had a relaxed vibe, and it pulled a person in, leaving them with no desires to leave. The ceiling was painted blue, with enchantments of open skies; he recognised the enchantments since he had used very similar ones in Ethereal, to create the enchanted walls. He was certain that an extension charm had been used too, since the shop should be no different than Ethereal in size, but Fable was a very large store; it was like being in a forest, but one with lots of open space and natural light; the magical orbs that were used all across the city were not in use, but rather a layer of light was painted across the sky, streaming down through the trees, and fairy lights were strung up, adding to the peaceful atmosphere.

Fable was one of the most popular bookstores, though it didn't sell as much fiction as one world expect; half the books were fantasy stories, set in world of magic much beyond Lance's, with almost no technology, and all sorts of 'mythical' creatures. Lance didn't see them as Mythical, he had met his fair share of pixies, and had glimpsed fairies too. They were rather shy, however, and didn't come out around humans, even if they had strong magic. The other half of the books were spell books; there were trees of books on runes, enchantments, curses, gifts, illusions, and just about every type of magic Lance could think of.

"Fancy seeing you here, I didn't know you could read!"

Lance turned around to the teasing voice, to see Keith, his dark hair pulled back into a bun, a gentle flower crown with soft pinks and blues settled upon his head. He wore a white and dark blue striped shirt, followed up to his elbows, grey skinny jeans, and faded red converse.

"I can read! I just choose not to!" Lance replied to the cute boy, with a soft smile to match his.

"So, what brings you to Fable? I thought you spend all your time at the coffee shop? Never seen you around here before."

"I need to get a book for Maria; it's her birthday in three days, and well, she's studying magic and loves reading so I figured that I could try and find her something from here? What about you, emo boy, what's with the flower crown and pastel vibes?"

"I work here."

Lance looked at Keith with shock, but then realised that it did make sense; he had hardly seen Keith without a book on his person, and Lance had constantly seen him reading books on magic, and if he added in his interest when he had said that Ethereal used magic, it wasn't all that strange for him to work at a bookstore that sells books about magic.

He heard a soft mew and crouched down to pet the kitten pawing at his leg.

"They let you bring Red here?"

"Encourage it, really. They say pets help build a more magical nature, as anyone can just take their pets here, and let them play while they read. It's pretty popular here in the winter because a lot of pet owners stop by to let their pets play here, where it's warm and sunny, rather than out in the cold, plus they can get books here that they can read. It's a pretty cool place."

"That's… actually a really smart idea to bring in customers," Lance said, thinking about it.

"They also organise kids and pets' days every week; this place also acts as a day care – there's a specific area where there are kids' books, where there is a play area, and parents can leave their children here while they work, and leave pets if they have to go away and need their pets looking after. I mostly tend to the books, so I don't work with the kids, but it seems like the kids enjoy it here."

"Sounds amazing, maybe I should think about bringing the kids here one day, it'd keep them occupied and I could read up on some magic."

"Anyway, you wanted a book for someone?"

"Yeah, my sister."

"Come with me; I'm sure we can find something. This place has a strange way of directing you exactly where you need to go."

Lance stood back up, Red at his feet, and they started to walk through the forest that was Fable.

"So, man, what are you doing in life? Other than working here and hanging with Kate, that is."

"I write?"

"No way, really? Reader _and_ a writer, that's pretty sweet. Can I read any of your works, or are they not for everyone," Lance wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Keith looked at him, confused.

"Why wouldn't it be for everyone?"

Lance looked at the boy's innocent confusion, and gave him a light smile.

"Don't worry. So what sort of genre do you write, then?"

"Mostly… fantasy, I guess. Magical worlds full of magic born creatures, full of adventure and mystery…"

"I bet you'd fit right in, in those worlds," Lance said, smiling at the boy. Lance wasn't sure if it was his imagination, or a change of lighting, but Keith appeared to pale at that comment, his smile dropping off his face.

"What do you mean."

"Well, the way you seem to love all things magic and you just have so much passion! But then again, maybe not," He smirked, "I'm not sure that boys with emo hair are allowed into the magical world, even if they do wear flower crowns."

Keith rolled his eyes, face returning to its naturally faintly flushed state. A small smile graced his features as he thrust a book into Lance's arms.

"Here, this book might be good. It's a great book for those interested in studying magic, although it isn't particularly well known. There aren't a lot of copies around, but it can be very useful in the study of magic."

"Thanks dude. I'm sure she'll love it. Now…" he looked around him, for a telltale counter with a sign that said 'pay here' in bright letters, but all he saw were all oak frees, filled with books. "Where do I pay for this?"

As Lance stepped outside Fable, after bidding farewell to Red, and simply waving goodbye to Keith, he felt the cold, winter chill against his face. Pulling up his scarf, which had fell free as he wondered through fable, the warm air and artificial suns flushing his features with heat.

He set off back to his apartment, in the outer city, when he found himself planted firmly to the ground. Just a few meters ahead of him, he saw a glimpse of midnight black hair and bright violet eyes, shining in his direction. It had to be his Shadow, there couldn't be anyone else with eyes that purple.

"Hey, do I… know you?" She said, turning to Lance. He froze.

"Uh… I don't think so, my name's Lance! I love your eyes," he blurted, refraining from mentioning who he thought she was. He didn't want to ask if she was shadow… Shadow had basically told him they didn't want to be his soulmate, and he didn't want that to scare them away.

"Thanks? They're contacts… My name's Calliope, but everyone calls me Cal." Lance looked at them, smiling. She wore black eyeliner and light makeup, to soothe the features and remove any excess colouring to the skin. She had small, black earings in their ears, and midnight blue hair, which fell down their back, in light curls. Shorter strands fell into her face, covering her features. She wore a blood red scarf, along with black shorts, a black and white striped dress, and laddered tights.

"Nice to meet you, Cal… So, what brings you to this part of town?" Lance smiled at the slightly shorter girl.

"I was looking for this coffee shop my friend told me about… said they make the best coffee in the world. I doubt it, because she is extremely enthusiastic about everything… but she's cute, and I trust her…"

"What's it called?"

"Ethereal Coffee?"

"Sweet. I actually work there… Today's my day off, but I'll walk you there and buy you a drink, if you want?" Lance wasn't sure how far flirting would get him, but she was cute, and potentially his soulmate.

"Thanks! You're so sweet. Please tell me it's close… it's _freezing_ out here!"

* * *

A/N

Hey, thanks to anyone who has been reading so far - I just wanted to say that i really appreciate any feedback I recieve, since I'm working on this as part of NoNoWriMo, (so it's going to likely be over 50k when i finish it), and I'm using this to try and work on my development of characters and form interactions between them. After I finish this, I have plans to start on a new project, an actual novel this time, so if there is anything you notice with my writing that you think I could improve upon, please say! Thank you so much! Enjoy the next chapter!

(Updates should be at least every two days, often every day. I'll edit once I'm done, sorry for any spelling mistakes etc,)


	6. Chapter 6 - Snowballs and Snuggles

The gentle November air was cool and refreshing, gentle snowflakes falling through the air filled the whole city with the winter spirit. Snowflakes danced with the magical orbs, drawing in by their gravity, just to soar away with a gust of wind. The snowfall on the ground had rose rather high, and Lance was ecstatic. It was his day off, and he got to spend the day in the snow!

He had asked Hunk if he wanted to hang out with him, hoping that he would, but Hunk simply replied that he and Allura were working that day, and wouldn't be able to join him, and reminded him that Shay would be at their apartment that night.

Lance pulled on his Ravenclaw scarf and headed out to Ethereal, to make himself a coffee to start the day. One perk of being an employee was that he could have drinks whenever he wanted, free of charge. It was perfect on cold, late autumn days, especially those which on which fresh snow had fallen.

The snowflakes fell around the boy, tiny crystals each containing its own miniature universe, full of magic and excitement. Each crystal fell to the ground, blending into the thick, white powder, full of footprints, reminding Lance of his mission. He needed to get himself a nice hot chocolate, filled to the brim with magic and marshmallows.

That hot chocolate was all that he could think of, until he reached Ethereal, that was.

"Katieth!" Lance threw himself through the door, spotting them in line to get a drink. "Please tell me you aren't working today!"

"Sorry, kid, but I have class later," Katie said, sticking her tongue out at Lance.

"Uh... I'm not… Why?" Keith looked a little unsure of himself, as he internally battled over if that was the right thing to say.

"Great! You're spending the day with me! Snow day!" Lance went round to the other side of the counter, where Allura was working. "What drinks do you guys want? I'll make them for you while Allura serves the other customers."

The two put in their drink orders, and moved out of the queue, so that Lance could make their orders. It only took him a minute to make all three, and then he pulled Keith out of the door.

"You don't need to pay, it's on me," he called back to Katie, who was stood in the shop looking a little confused.

"Where… are we going…" Keith said, trying not to spill his coffee as Lance tugged on his hand, pulling him down the street, away from the shop.

"What do you normally like to do on snow days?" Lance looked at the boy expectantly, a large smile on his face. Keith has a shy smile, and seemed a little confused about what was going on.

"I don't really _do_ anything on snow days… I sit in Fable reading a book in the warm?" He hid his face away, hiding behind his Gryffindor scarf, his bright, silver eyes looking down at the snow on the ground.

"Wait, _what?!"_ Lance exclaimed. In his family, snow days were the most important days – the whole family would go out and have snowball fights, they would dance around in the snow, build the best snowmen that they could, and make snow angels. Then, to end the day, the whole family would sit around the fireplace, hot chocolates in hands, and watch a happy movie. "Okay, now I _have_ to allow you to experience the typical Mcclain Snow Day!"

"The what now?"

"Drink up; we've got a lot to do!"

Instead of sprinting down the road, and spilling their drinks all over the freshly fallen snow, the boys just walked together, quietly sipping on their drinks. Lance looked to Keith, who was smiling at a few kids who were playing together, having a snowball fight. He looked so at peace, his soft features relaxed into a gentle smile, as snowflakes settled in his hair, parking like stars in the night.

Keith turned to Lance, and upon spotting the boy watching him with a gentle smile, flushed slightly.

"What!"

"Nothing." Lance bit the inside of his cheek to try and stop himself from smiling.

"Tell me!" Keith bumped his shoulder into Lance's, causing the boy to stumble and fall at the unexpected contact. "Oops."

Keith burst out laughing, and Lance pouted, before an idea popped into his head. He discretely scooped up some snow and piled it into his hands. He stood up innocently, and smiled at Keith, who was still laughing. Until three seconds later, when he was shrieking at the sudden cold feeling on the back of his neck; cold water running down his spine, already melted by his high body temperature.

"Lance!" The boy's expression of shock turned to one of competitiveness as his eyes focussed on Lance. Before he even had the chance to react, Lance was drowning in snow, as in flew into the back of his head. He spun around, but there was no-one there. He spun back to Keith, opening his mouth to talk, but instead got a mouthful of snow.

"Oops, shouldn't talk so much." Keith winked, and Lance noticed the snowball hovering next to Keith, bouncing up and down as the boy kept his hands in his pockets, where it was warm.

"Oh it is _on!"_

The two boys ran down the streets, turning to magic instead of their hands as they fought, until they reached a park in the outskirts, where they both slowed to a stop, leaning over to catch their breath. Lance looked up for a few seconds, before laughing at Keith's appearance.

His pale skin was flushed with cold, silver eyes wide with amusement as they looked back at him, hair flying loose as the hairtie had been lost somewhen during the battle. The Gryffindor scarf that had been so bright was coated in white, almost invisible, and the boy was soaked from head to toe. Lance was clutching his stomach in hysterics, before he found himself flying to the ground as Keith tacked him. The two boys found themselves laughing to the point of tears.

"Hey, Lance?"

"Yeah?"

Keith rolled over, almost on top of Lance, and piled a handful of snow in Lance's face, resulting in a high-pitched shriek coming from the taller boy, his hair coated in snow, standing on end.

"oH MY GODS KEITH YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT!"

Keith laughed gently, brushing the snow off Lance's face with a gentle smile. Lance looked up at the boy, and took in the masterpiece above him. Gentle curls framed his face, snowflakes sprinkled like glitter throughout, sparkling against the late November sun. Bright silver eyes watched him happily, framed by long, dark eyelashes. His nose was red with cold, skin flushed to the point that he could almost feel the warmth radiating from it. His soft, pink lips chapped with cold, curled into a gentle smile. Beautiful.

Keith suddenly sat back where he had fallen, even more flushed than before. He turned away from Lance a little, and so the boy propped himself up on his elbows.

"Keith?"

He looked over curiously.

"…do you wanna build a snowman?"

He was shoved back into the snow.

The two boys later had a snowman building contest, which turned into an all-out battle and snowball fight, as they protected their snowmen behind snow forts, strong and tall, built like castles, reinforced with ice to strengthen their shields.

Snowballs were flying through the air, cannons shooting down the enemy with rapid fire, difficult to dodge as they came too fast to respond. Keith fought with speed, attempting to overpower his opponent by throwing so much at him that he had to surrender. Lance, however, turned to accuracy. Trusting his aim, he was able to hit Keith 905 of the time, and was watching for the perfect opportunity to fire at the snowman, but he had to be patient; wait for the gap when Keith stopped to refuel; he let down his defences for a second, and in that time, he was vulnerable to attack. Lance had planned it out, timed it down to the second.

"Giving up yet Lance?" Keith called, a mischievous grin adorning his features.

"Never!" Lance shouted back, full of enthusiasm.

"Getting tired yet?" Keith had noticed Lance's lack of attacks, and was trying to pull information out of him.

"Nope."

The dark-haired boy narrowed his eyes, pouting. The boy focused of Lance's snowman, standing tall and proud behind Lance, a large grin painted onto its features with sticks and stones.

Lance immediately turned defensive, building up his defences with the ammo that Keith had used on him. His tower stood taller than ever, and there was no way that even Keith's constant attacks would be able to break through Lance's snow castle. Magic was great; it made simple tasks like building a fort so much faster, and more fun. It took merely minutes to build a castle of snow, and it would be so much stronger than one built by hand. Keith had no chance. Yet, he continued his attacks, lost in a smokescreen of snow, so that Keith was no longer visible.

Lance steadied his aim, and held it steady, the snowball turning to ice in his hand. He fired.

"Nice shot, sharpshooter, but you missed me." Keith had somehow snuck up next to him, and was leaning on his snowman threateningly.

"I didn't miss."

Lance pointed through the settling blizzard, and Keith saw his snowman headless in his fort. His jaw dropped.

"But! You!" He stumbled on his words for a few seconds before resigning. "You win…"

"Does the winner get a prize?" Lance grinned, smugly.

"Yep!" Lance opened his mouth to speak, and once more got a mouthful of snow.

" _Dude!"_

Not long after that, the two boys were shivering, the enthusiasm from the fight dying down, leaving them both realising how truly _cold_ they were.

"W-we need to go warm up…" Lance stuttered, shivering as he rubbed his arms, trying to warm himself, the chill setting on rather strong as the blizzard around them increased.

"Y-yeah… my apartment is j-just around the corner…" Keith said, and grabbed Lance's arm, pulling him in the direction of what Lance assumed would be Keith's apartment. He was completely unsure what to expect, since there weren't a lot of apartments in the area they were in, as far as Lance knew, since there were a lot of houses nearby, most of which were owned by families, due to the fact that there were several schools in the area.

Lance didn't say a word, and simply trailed after Keith, his arm being pulled ahead of him as the dark-haired boy rushed to get home, so that he could get indoors, away from the chill of the snow.

They approached a building which Lance thought was a school, a posh rich kids' school, and Keith tugged him through the gates. As they walked in, footprints leaving heady indents in the snow, Lance saw a sign reading 'Altea House'. Keith took a left turn, going to the lower section of the building. As they got closer, Lance realised that there were three main buildings, rather than one, which appeared to be split into different apartments.

"Uh, sorry if it's a bit of a mess, I've been working a lot for the last couple days… I'm going to quickly go take a shower to warm up, then you can do the same – I'll grab you some warm clothes and you can, uh, make some hot drinks if you want? I would offer to make some for you but I'm pretty sure that Katie told you when we first met that I can't make a decent coffee so, uh, yeah." Keith rambled in his direction as he unlocked a door and pulled him into his apartment.

"Hey, Red, I'm home."

Red meowed softly, and walked over to the door, where Lance stood awkwardly, taking in the appearance of the place.

Upon his first glance, the place looked rather tidy. The studio apartment was quite large, the walls lined with bookshelves, with more books that Lance could even imagine owning. If he had doubted this boy's love of books, he would no more. He had a tv set up against one wall, resting upon a unit which appeared filled with videogames and movies, instead of books, like the rest of the room. He had a small kitchen in the far corner, with what he figured were cookbooks stacked around, although judging by the boy's lack of ability when it came to making a simple coffee, he figured Keith didn't bake much. His kitchen blended with his bedroom, separated only by a door which he assumed to be to the bathroom, judging by the sound of running water from that direction.

Just in front of the kitchen were a few cat beds, some stay cat toys, littered around as though Red had played with them for a minute, before he found them boring, and moved on. In the little bed, however, wasn't Red, as red was at his feet. There was a little, white kitten, fast asleep. Lance made note to ask Keith about the white kitten later, curious, since he hadn't mentioned having a second kitten at any point.

Lance debated taking a seat on one of the sofas, but then decided against it, and continued to stand awkwardly by the door as he didn't want to soak them with the snow that had drenched him.

"Hey, shower's free, I left some clothes for you in there, I can wash yours for you, if you want… It'll be no hassle…"

"Thanks man." Lance headed into the bathroom, quickly showered, and changed into the clothes which Keith had left for him. He guessed they were pyjamas, since they felt soft and comfortable; the shirt dark blue, with a design of Totoro on, the pants soft, deep blue and striped, and a pair of blue socks with a lion symbol on, which were immensely fluffy and Lance was extremely grateful for.

"As a gift of my thanks, I shall make you the most amazing hot chocolate! Uh… you do have hot chocolate, right?" Lance emerged out of the bathroom, spotting Lance leaning comfortably against the island kitchen counter, chatting with red, who sat in front of him, mewing in conversation.

"Yeah, Katie is obsessed with hot chocolate and insists that I _have_ to have ingredients in, since she is round here quite often. Hunk visits occasionally too, when they're working on some engineering and such. I'm blessed by Hunk's amazing cooking."

"You should try living with him; I don't cook a single meal, and his food…" He places a hand over his heart, "I'm in heaven." Lance moved into the kitchen area, reaching into various cupboards, before being corrected by Keith, who watched him suffer with a soft smile.

"Powder top left cupboard."

"Kettle is over there."

"Milk and cream in the fridge."

"Where's the fridge!"

"Right there!"

"Keith, that's a wardrobe."

"Witchcraft!"

"Just make the drinks, you silly boy."

They both sat down with their hot chocolates infused with warm feelings and memories of snow. Tiny marshmallows bobbed on the top, resting peacefully on top of the cream, dustings of chocolate sweetly scattered. Red padded over to Keith, curling up in his lap, the boy sat crossed legged. The other little kitten followed, crawling up to lance, purring against his legs as he leant into the sofa, legs up on one side.

"So, who's this?" Lance nodded to the little fur ball purring up a storm against him, half asleep.

"I haven't named her yet… I stopped by the rescue agency where I met Red this morning, to see how the kittens were doing, and they introduced me to her. She was found this morning, abandoned in the snow, so I offered to take café of her for a while, since they had a lot of kittens on their hands, and it would be difficult to care for this little one on top, since she needs a lot of care and assistance, and most importantly, love. So I've adopted her… but I haven't thought of a name yet…"

"Why not stick with the theme and call her Blue?" The dark-haired boy flushed gently.

"Katie told me that I needed to be more creative than that…"

"What about… Aqua… Cerulean… Sapphire… Azul…"

"Azul… Maybe Azula, like from Avatar…" He mused, considering Lance's variations of the word blue. "Why do you want to name her Blue, anyway?"

"Have you seen her ages? They're a beautiful shade of blue!"

"So are yours-" Keith said, before realising what he had just said, freezing up and hiding his face in his hot chocolate.

"Aww, you think my eyes are pretty!" Lance teased, his face flushing red, too.

There was a comfortable silence that formed around the boys, before Lance twisted sideways to look at Keith with a mischievous grin.

"So, how about we play a game."

A/N

Okay, sorry but the next update wont be until Thursday or Friday since I havent written much. I'm ill at the moment and using my laptop makes it worse, with writers block starting to settle in after a week of consecutive writing... I'll try to work on it tomorrow, but I also have some housework to catch up on. Might end up pulling an all nighter... Sorry for the delay, hope you guys are enjoying the story so far!


	7. Chapter 7 - Dreams and Discussions

The two boys sat on the sofa, hot chocolates in their hands, kittens leaning against them, matching grins dancing across their features.

"What kind of game did you have in mind?"

"Would you Rather? Since we don't really know a lot about each other."

"Okay… hey, since it's almost 6, do you wanna order some pizza?" Keith offered, feeling too lazy and far too comfortable on the sofa to move.

"Mm pizza…" Lance sighed, leaning back on the sofa, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. The sun was practically set outside; it hardly shared its light, hiding below the horizon. Most of the lights indoors were off, excluding a set of fairy lights, strung upon the bookshelves, and a few small lamps, on various desks next to various sofas.

"Katie put those up… She helped me do a lot of the decorating… and by that, I mean that she basically decided everything and forced me to put it all up. She spent a lot more time here when I first moved in…" Keith trailed off, a half smile on his face, hinting that the memories he recalled were not all the happiest ones, but not the worst, either.

"That was sweet of her…You guys are like siblings then?"

"Yeah… anyway, you wanted to play a game?"

Lance could tell that the boy was trying to change the subject, but he didn't push further. It wasn't up to him what Keith wanted to share, and he wouldn't force him into anything.

"Yeah!"

"Okay… would you rather… live in eternal summer or winter?" Lance grinned, awaiting an answer.

Keith hesitated for a second before deciding.

"Summer."

"Same."

"Uh… would you rather… take the place of your favourite book or movie character in their world, or have them come to this world?"

"Take their place! I mean, who doesn't want to be best friends with a demigod, hero to all, who can change into any animal, and get to spend all their days sailing around, with the magical ocean watching over you!"

"Your favourite character is Moana?"

"I took my nieces, Thalia and Alyse, to see it when it came out in cinemas. They loved it, and we recreated scenes when we went to the beach in the summer." Lance smiled fondly, picturing the girls' enthusiastic smiles, recalling Thalia's excited squeals as their boat rocked, Alyse's voice washing over the sea, as she sung her favourite song, re-enacting the scene. He loved how much they had loved it.

"You really love your family, huh?"

"Yeah… Uhm," Lance tried to think of what to ask next. "

"Would you rather… never taste Hunk's cooking again, or never have one of my coffee's again?"

"Hunk's cooking…" the boy muttered quietly, his face flushed. He had turned his attention to red, napping in his lap, to avoid looking at the other boy.

"Awe I knew it! I'm better than Hunk! Ha!"

"Hey now! Don't get ahead of yourself! I mean that you just got me hooked on these! You can't take them away now! I'd have to go back to just drinking instant coffee… And anyway, Hunk's cooking is good enough that its more than I deserve in this lifetime! But you haven't satisfied me enough for a lifetime yet."

"Haven't satisfied, eh?" Lance smirked, and Keith glared back, throwing a cushion at him.

"Oh, shut up!"

V rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrv

A knock sounded at the door as their pizza arrived.

The boys put on Big Hero 6 to watch as they sat on the sofa with their pizza and drinks, tired from the long day of spellcasting and snowball fights.

"Hey, Keith?" Lance looked at the other boy sleepily, with a light grin.

"Yeah?"

"What's your favourite colour?"

"Red."

"Mine's blue."

"I know."

"Tell me something I don't know about you."

"I didn't actually study English at higher education, yet I want to be a writer. What about you?"

"Something you don't know?"

"Yeah."

"Well…" Lance thought hard for a couple of seconds, before a smile graced his features. "I have four siblings; two sisters and two bothers. Two of them have two kids, and they're the cutest little angels you'll ever meet. I have a couple cousins, on my dad's side, but he isn't very close to his family so I don't see them. I had an uncle on my mum's side, her twin brother, but he didn't have any children before he passed… That's my whole family. Oh, expect my grandparents. I don't see them much, though."

"I'm ambidextrous, have been since I was younger. Katie and I were ahead of the rest of our classes because we studied often, so I got bored in class and taught myself how to write right handed. We picked up a lot of hobbies that way."

"I'm kind of into art… I painted and enchanted the wall in Ethereal, it took months of working on it to finish it, but it paid off. I love painting especially."

"I've been obsessed with magic ever since I was small, but it makes sense since I was always surrounded by it as a child; I didn't even know that most people _didn't_ use magic. I'm not particularly good at making visible magic, though."

"I've never been in a relationship, and my supposed soulmate totally rejected me, so I -guess that I'm soulmate-less..."

"I don't believe in soulmates."

"I always used to imagine that my soulmate and I would be perfect together; always together, and things would just flow perfectly. Instead, they were just a stranger, a ghost in the night, who didn't want anything to do with me."

"When I was a kid I wanted to be a space knight. A paladin, if you will. I was totally into sword fighting, and spent so much time practice fighting in the forest. My mum worried about me not making friends, but I was happy playing my games. Katie later joined me, and we would pretend to be space heroes together, and we defended the universe."

"Hunk and I became friends in preschool, some kid was making fun of him for his size, and he just stood up for himself and the bullies left him alone. He was like a hero, and he was so sweet and kind. We became best friends from then on, and he wouldn't let anyone pick on either of us."

The two boys lay back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling, side by side. Neither looked at the other while they spoke, they just lay there, feet resting on the arms of the sofa, heads in the middle, staring at the stars painted onto the ceiling. They took in what the other was saying, but didn't make comments, worried that if they did, the focus would shift and they wouldn't learn anything else. Lance kept spewing random comments about himself, the first that popped into his mind, and Keith responded with comments about himself, and his past. Lance was happy, that way neither would be able to push any boundaries, they could share what they wanted to share, and they didn't need to share anything they weren't comfortable with.

"Katie, Matt and I lived together for 7 years, and in that time, we truly began to become a family, despite the fact we aren't related. It was nice having siblings to rely on."

"Mika was always nicest to me growing up. While Maria taught me magic and encouraged my education, she was more interested in reading her books than playing with me. Adrian was too old to play with me as a kid, since he was more invested in his studies, but he would still play with us, but I was too small to really join in. I babysit his kids a lot, they're closer to my age than Adrian is, though. Loki would play with me, but he had a really strong competitive streak and would never let me win at _anything,_ and he always cheated so that he would do better than us. He liked to play a lot of tricks on us. But Mika let me win, always played with me, helped me out when I was in trouble. We still had our issues, but she was my favourite sibling. I look after the twins quite often these days, when she has to travel for work and can't take them with her…"

"I used to be such a difficult child. I was an only child and didn't get a lot of attention, since my mom was often busy, and I tended to cause her a lot of trouble. That's why she taught me magic, and got me interested. She knew it would interest me and that I would definitely want to study more. It got me to settle down, but it did cost her a considerable amount of money, paying for all the books I had wanted. But I think she would be happy, seeing how happy I am because of them."

"My favourite food is pizza, second favourite ice cream."

"I would sell my soul for a massive cake right about now."

"Coke is better than Pepsi."

"Pepsi is better than Coke."

"I love the beach, the ocean, the water more than anything else. I love winter, but summer means beach time, swimming in the sea, flirting with everyone I meet, building sandcastles with my nieces and nephew, exploring caves with Mika, climbing on the large rocks at the beach, searching for crabs in the little rock pools, splashing around in the shallows with the little ones, teaching Alyse and Thalia to swim, taking them out on surfboards with Mika, letting Andrew and Keira relax on the beach without their kids making noise. Getting ice creams with Hunk, exploring the city in the warm summer heat, looking for old ruins to explore as kids. Summer is amazing."

"I've never actually been to the beach."

"One day, I'm going to take Keith with me, to the beach, and he will experience the wonder that is summer in the Mcclain family, and he's going to love it."

Lance looked to his side to see Keith smiling softly at him, and he beamed back at the boy.

"You experienced a Mcclain family snow day today, minus the kids, it only makes sense that you need to come to the beach with us this summer!"

"Isn't the beach… pretty far away?"

"It's only a day's drive, and my grandparents have a massive beach house down there, that my whole family, and Hunk's, go to every summer. You, Katie and Matt should all come next year – it'll be so much fun. Trust me, there's nothing quite as amazing as the summer sea, the gentle breeze blowing through your hair, the amazing smell of the saltwater, the taste of the cool ice cream, contrasting against the summer heat. Nothing can compare. You know the peaceful feeling at Fable? Multiply that be a thousand and it _still_ can't compare to the wonderous feeling of summer!"

"Okay, okay, I trust you. You've totally sold it to me, I'll go sell my whole book collection, sell this apartment and move to the beach, where I'll find a spell for eternal summer and live out my days as a hermit, on the beach, writing a novel through the endless heat, until I can write no more books!"

"Wow," Lance laughed, gleefully, "I never pegged you as the over-dramatic type."

Keith sent the boy a wink, before letting out a yawn.

"Hey, what time is it anyway?"

Lance pulled out his phone and winced at the brightness, only then noticing how dark it was, the tv on standby, all the other lights turned off, to build a more entrancing vibe for the movie. Only the fairy lights remained on.

"It's, uh… almost 11…"

"You can stay if you want," Keith let out another yawn, and Lance followed suit, a wave of tiredness washing over him. "You'll have to sleep on the sofa, but you have my word that it's actually pretty comfortable to sleep on. Katie likes to kick me out of my bed when she stays over. I'll just grab you some blankets now…"

"Thanks," Lance yawned, readjusting himself so he was more comfortable on the sofa, and within a few seconds of resting his eyes, he found himself drifting into a deep sleep, unable to keep his eyes open for another minute.

* * *

A/N

Hey, sorry it took so long to post, I had a bit of a issue with my writing and mental state so I just couldn't find the motivation to write, BUT it's Disney Friday today, where I traditionally watch Disney movies to feel better, and I doubled the dosage and watched two today, so I managed to write this! Sorry it isn't more, that it's really just chatting, but I'm as exhausted as they are and I'm two days behind with my writing... I'll try to get the next one up tomorrow, and hopefully the following one will be within the next two days also! Love you all, thanks for reading!


	8. Chapter 8 - Children and Coffee

Lance woke up to a kitten purring on his chest. Sleepily opening his eyes, he saw a dark black cat resting just below his ribs. He looked up to see that he had fallen asleep on a sofa, under a ceiling, sparkling with stars. A small smile adorned his features, and he made a move to get up, before remembering that Red was curled up on him. He rested his head back against the pillow that he had been sleeping on, and closed his eyes, letting himself fall back to sleep.

He remained in a half-asleep state until the small kitten awoke at the growling of his stomach, desperate for food. The kitten crawled off him, and went in search for food himself. Lance then rolled off the sofa, getting up, when the scent of bacon and eggs drowned his senses.

"Morning." Lance looked up to see Keith smiling down at him, cooking up some breakfast sleepily. "Want some breakfast?"

"Yeah," Lance yawned, stumbling over to the kitchen worktop, still not awake. He moved around the island counter, careful not to disturb Azula, who saw sleeping peacefully there, and made his way to where he remembered seeing coffee the previous afternoon. He rustled around in the cupboard, turning on the kettle as h grabbed a few spices to add a little flavour, and then turned for the milk.

"You want a coffee? I can hardly function without one in the mornings…" Lance grumbled, stifling a yawn.

"That'd be great, I'd love one!"

Lance made the drinks as soon as the kettle finished boiling, trying to summon up awake, positive thoughts, to give him a spark of energy in the morning. He thought of the beach, and it filled his mind with joyful thoughts, spilling into their drinks. He mixed in a few spices, some sugar and a splash of milk, before taking a sip of his, passing the other to Keith.

"Here you go, emo boy."

Keith rolled his eyes.

"Why do you even call me that, I'm not emo!"

"You've got, like, the emo hair with your long black hair and fringe covering your eyes!"

"I'm not really emo though, I just like my hair this length."

"Okay. Nerd."

The two boys smiled at each other, before Keith turned back to the bacon, to finish cooking it so they could enjoy some breakfast.

"So, you got any plans today?" Keith asked Lance, as they sat on the sofa, enjoying their breakfast and coffee.

"Uh, yeah, I'm meant to be babysitting the troublemakers and working in the afternoon. They're gonna have to come with me, but they love it at Ethereal. Thalia especially likes it, though I think that's because I make her hot chocolate and, when she's not busy with customers, Allura tries to teach her magic. Alyse isn't really interested in magic, but she likes to help out around the shop, so we let her be a little waitress sometimes. She usually just hangs out with Hunk, though, since she has a massive sweet tooth, kinda like you, and she wants to learn how to bake."

"Oh, sounds like you've got a busy day ahead of you, then."

"Yeah… I'm meant to pick up the girls in like half an hour… You can come with, if you don't have any plans. I'm sure Thalia would love you – if you started talking to her about magic, that is."

"Thanks, I'll do that then… I was just planning on going to Ethereal to do some writing today anyway… It's more inspiring to write there, and the constant supply of coffee doesn't hurt either." Keith grinned up at Lance, who smiled softly in return.

"I should, uh, really stop home and get some proper clothes though… I don't think my mum would approve if she found me on her doorstep in nightclothes. At midday."

Keith laughed slightly, before getting up.

"I can give you a lift to yours, if you want. I just need to get dressed and grab my stuff. I would offer you some day-clothes but I don't think my clothes would fit you all that well…" Keith frowned, looking at the slightly taller, slimmer boy. Keith's clothes wouldn't be a great fit… Keith was shorter and a very different build, from what he could tell.

"That's okay, it was nice of you to lend me these; I'll wash and return them to you at some point. So, you got a car?"

Keith smirked. "Nope."

Lance sent him a confused look, but then Keith grabbed out some clothes and went into the bathroom to get changed, leaving Lance with the kittens. A few minutes later, Keith came out and grabbed a messenger bag, the one he always carried, and filled it with a few things; his laptop, pens, a notebook, keys, a wallet, and some other things. It reminded Lance of getting ready for school; grabbing all the books he needed before rushing out the door.

"Alright, let's go."

Lance picked up the bag which he had discarded the previous day, it having been slightly soaked. It didn't contain much, just his keys and wallet and phone, but they were important things that he wasn't going to leave. It would be awkward to get home and realise he didn't have his keys, although he could still use an unlocking charm, but he preferred not to.

Walking out of the door, Keith following from behind, the boy found himself slightly confused. If Keith didn't have a car, how was he planning on giving him a lift home. Lance's eyes widened when he realised what Keith had meant.

In front of the two boys sat a black motorbike, glowing purple and red accents glowing faintly, overpowered by the bright sunlight beaming down on them. Almost all the snow from the previous day had melted, only faint hints that snow had even lay upon the grass in front of Altea House.

"Wow, I was not expecting that."

The dorky boy stood next to him, wearing a star wars shirt, skinny grey jeans and red converse, holding two motorcycle helmets; one black, one red.

"Katie persuaded me to get one. I only agreed because it was cheaper than a car and I need to get around. My parents were pretty well off, so it wasn't massively costly…"

"She's beautiful," Lance fake teared up at the bike, looking to the other boy.

"One of Matt's friends helped fix it up, he's an engineering major and was perfectly happy to do so."

"Sweet, so, shall we go?"

The boys got on the bike, Keith in the black helmet, Lance in the blue, and set off. If he was being completely honest, Lance enjoyed the feeling of riding down the streets, arms wrapped around the boy in front of him, the wind on his face, the warmth of the boy seeming into him, the soft glow of the accents, blurring behind them like magic. He was almost sad when he got back to his apartment, and had to stop.

"You can, uh, come in if you want. It's probably warmer indoors…"

The two boys headed up to Lance's apartment, which was on the third floor, the apartment blocks in the inner city more built up than the outer city ones, but still relatively low. There was little necessity to build massive apartment blocks when all it took was an extension charm on the interior to make the apartments suitable for living.

Keith stood around the doorway, upon entering the apartment, and Lance quickly headed to his room, seeing that he was meant to be picking up the girls from his home in only 20 minutes. He changed out of Keith's clothes, throwing them on the bed, swapping them out for a pair of skinny blue jeans, a light grey shirt with long blue sleeves, his favourite jacket and hoodie, and the first pair of shoes he found. His ones from the previous day were still a little wet, so he didn't want to wear those.

"Alright, lets go!"

The boys left the apartment only a minute after entering, Lance keen to go pick up the girls, so they wouldn't cause his mother too much trouble.

"Didn't you say you live with Hunk?" Keith looked at the boy next to him, who was drowning in an oversized jacket, sleeves covering his hands in sweater paws. He briefly wondered how the boy wasn't boiling in the jacket; it was rather warm out, despite being late November.

"Yeah, he's probably already at work, or hanging out with his QPP, Shay."

"QPP?"

"Queer-Platonic Partner. It's kinda like dating, but platonically. Hunk's aromantic, and so is Shay. They're platonic soulmates, and totally cute together."

"Oh."

When they finally made it to Lance's old house, the two girls were already sat out front, waiting for him.

"Uncle Lance!" Thalia squealed, running over and hugging him, her long blonde curls flowing down her back. She looked up at him excitedly, with glowing green eyes, bright like those of a cat. "Are we going to the coffee shop today! Can Alla teach me more about magic!"

"I'm not sure if Alla is going to have time to help you out, but my friend Keith here studies magic, like Auntie Maria!"

The little girl looked up at Keith with a smile.

"Hey Keef! My name is Thalia! I'm gonna be a magician when I'm bigger!"

"Hey uncle Lance, who's your friend?" Alyse said, looking up with an eyebrow raised. "The little tree seems to be in love." She nodded towards her sister, who was looking up at Keith enthusiastically, telling him about the magic that Allura had been teaching her.

"I'm Keith." He looked at the other girl and smiled slightly. She reminded him a little of Katie, when she was younger.

"Well, I'm Alyse. So, are we gonna go hang out with uncle Hunk!" She looked up at Lance, with the same bright blue eyes as his, and he nodded, grinning back at her.

"You bet, Aly! I don't know what he'll be baking today though, so he might not want you getting in his way…"

"That's okay! I can just help you and Alla out around the shop! Can I serve some customers! They're usually really nice and like listening to me talk!"

"I'm sure you can, kiddo. You two stay here a minute, I just need to say that we're leaving, alright? Make sure Thalia doesn't go running off anywhere," He smiled at Alyse, and she giggled slightly, both of them remembering the last time, when she had run into the forest, convinced she had seen a fairy. The girl immediately crashed into a tree, and in her daze, managed to cast herself into a tree, through an illusion. Lance had been trying to teach her, and she had apparently been practicing.

Lance stepped into the house, and saw his mother sat on the sofa.

"Hey Ma, I've come to pick up the girls, hope they didn't cause you too much trouble," He said, softly.

"They were so well behaved, they grow up so fast…" She answered, her voice weak.

"Is Anna-Marie here to take care of you?"

She waved her hand at him. "Yes, yes. She's here, helping me, trying to make me better. Not that I need any help, I'm perfectly fine and can handle everything on my own. I've been doing it for the past thirty years, since your brother was born. Well, I had your father around then, but you know what I mean."

Lance smiled at his mother, before giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm gonna take the girls now, Andrew is going to come pick them up tonight, right?"

"Yes, yes. He said he would. I'm sure he'll send you a message just before he arrives."

"Okay, love you Ma."

He left the house, and the four of them headed off to Ethereal, Lance hardly even looking towards his forest, too busy in an intense discussion with Thalia about what had been going on at her school the previous week, as she had been showing off the magic that she had been learning to her friends.

When they reached Ethereal, the two girls took at seat at one of the tables, Keith forced to sit with them as the smaller girl, Thalia, refused to let him out of her sight, as he had promised to teach her more magic, or at least, attempt to. Keith was more into spellcasting magic than the pretty illusions which Thalia liked, but he could at least show her the basics of using magic, even if he couldn't create with it. Lance had noticed, during the snowball fight, that while Lance's flew with a trail of blue, Keith's had no colour to them, and it was almost like they were controlled by magic alone, without Keith's input. Everyone else seemed to have at least a little colour to their magic, but Keith had none. Despite his curiosity, however, he didn't ask, for fear it would cause the boy to close himself off.

"Hey Allura, I've got the two little troublemakers with me today, so I'll need to make two hot chocolates before I start, to keep them occupied."

"That's okay! We seem a little busier than usual today, but I'll try and show Thalia some magic if I get the chance…"

"It's alright, Allura. Keith agreed to show her some magic, so you can relax and enjoy your break. Aly might want to help out again, though."

"Oh, how wonderful! I know a lot of customers like seeing her around, especially the elderly ones. They simply love her childish charm. I guess having happy, bouncy kids helping out simply builds upon the charm of this place, since it's really a place of wonder and joy, with feelings of ethereality, and well, children see the world like that every day!" Allura looked at the golden-haired girl with a fond smile, watching as her bright blue eyes flitted around the shop, watching the birds fly around the walls.

"Alla!" Alyse called, spotting Allura watching her, "You're working today! Can I help out! Please, please, please!" The girl pleaded, and Allura gave in with a happy smile.

"I'm sure we can find something for you to do, maybe you could go see what Hunk is up to in the kitchen? I believe he's baking cakes, and could use some help decorating them!" The little girl's bright blue eyes lit up with excitement, and she ran off before Lance could bring her the hot chocolate.

"Here you go, little tree," Lance said, ruffling up Thalia's bright blonde hair as he placed the hot chocolate in front of her. She quickly shifted to a keeling position, and started drinking her hot chocolate. Her emerald eyes glittered joyfully.

"Thank you, Uncle Lance!" He ruffled her hair once more, before heading into the back room, where Alyse was watching Hunk with a large smile.

"Hey Aly, Hunk, what are you guys up to?" He placed her hot chocolate in front of her, distracting her from the two of them.

"Decorating cakes. Did you have a fun snow day? You didn't come home last night."

"Yeah, sorry about that, totally passed out on the sofa and forgot to text you to say I wasn't gonna be home. Hope you didn't worry about me."

"I tried, but Shay just assured me that you're extremely forgetful and probably just crashed at your old place, or at Keith's."

"He wasn't with us last night, Tree, Abuela and I watched movies all night, till we all fell asleep. Lance and his friend came and picked us up this morning to bring us here." Alyse filled Hunk in on her thoughts on the subject, telling all that she knew.

"Yeah we had hot chocolate, ordered pizza, watched a movie and passed out from exhaustion after the snow day."

"That sounds like a date to me," Alyse teased, winking at Lance, "Who did you say you were with, again?"

"It wasn't a date!" Lance exclaimed, before narrowing his eyes at Alyse. "Besides, you're like, nine, Aly! What do you know about dating!"

"Well my ex-boyfriend and I went out for pizza and a movie last week… before I broke up with his because he wouldn't give me the attention I deserve, and made fun of Tree when she messed up her magic tricks." She stuck her nose in the air, huffing as though she couldn't stand the thought of the boy. Lance looked down at her proudly, glad that she was defending her little sister, even if just by breaking up with a boy who spoke badly about her.

"You're a good kid, Aly. Anyway, I need to get to work before Alla kills me and you'll have to replace me at making drinks!" Alyse giggled and he slipped out of the kitchen, leaving Hunk to train her in the art of cake decorating.

Allura passed him a couple orders, with the ingredients and little faces, to indicate the sort of emotion for his to add as spark of, and he immediately got to work. That was what he loved about Allura; no matter what, she always put her heart into everything, and could tell just how someone was feeling, and what they needed to cheer them up.

Lance passed the orders to the customers, and the rest of the day passed in a breeze.

A/N

Sorry ive been so slow at writing and posting, probably mentioned why in ch7, its currently 2am and i just finished the chapter, I'll try to post 9 tomorrow if I can. I haven't started writing it yet but I'll try to write it by then, it'll definitely be done by Tuesday. Hopefully 10 will be by then too, but no promises. Love those of u who are still reading, now goodnight!


	9. Chapter 9 - Lights and Lies

December began full of energy and joy. The whole town was buzzing at the thought of Yuletide, when magic was at its strongest. Every year, to celebrate, the whole town would be decorated for the final week of the year – from the 24th until the 31st, and there would be massive celebrations. There were decorations strung from the very beginning of December, but that was nothing compared to the week of Enchantment, as many called it.

Lanterns were hung in the street, no longer soft, gentle lights, but instead bright, colourful orbs, creating a joyful aura. Sweet smells passed through the streets, as all bakeries and cafes set to work, making even more sweet treats than usual, due to their extreme popularity during the final month of the year.

Ethereal, like all the other shops, was being prepared for the Yuletide celebrations by Lance, Hunk, Allura, and Coran, the owner of the shop. There were a few other employees who worked at Ethereal, but they were all part time, and most were untrained in magic, so were no help at that time of year.

"Alright, Allura! Just hang those pink lanterns there! All around the corners of the room, and Lance, you hang blue ones in between!" Coran called out jobs for them to do, bossing them around. For the time being, the decorations were to be fairly simple, just adding to the pastel pink and blue lighting, and giving the whole shop a faint sparkle, but later, during Yule Season, they would match the traditional Yule colours of Red and Blue, to match those of Moon – the blue representing that of its peaceful power, washing over them like the sea, empowering all who use it, and the Red for the unpredictability of magic, how even after studying for so many years, there was still so much to discover, to learn, from creatures born of magic.

"So, Coran, what are your plans for this Yuletide?" Lance grinned at the older man, who was twisting his auburn moustache, deep in thought.

"Well, I was going to do some work here for a while, and allow you kids to take a break over Yuletide. Of course, I'll need your help with the decorations, but some of my cousins will be coming for Yuletide, and wanted to learn the ropes here – We were thinking about opening another shop in another town, and this would be the best time to train them! None of you will have to work from the 10th December until the 4th of January, but I'll still pay you, for your help around the store. Of course, you're welcome to help out if you want to, but please, enjoy your well-earned holiday!"

"So, Lance, what are you up to?"

"Oh, well, I wasn't expecting to have time off over Yule… so I only have plans for a few days with my family, the 24th to 29th, where we'll be going up to my grandparent's place, the whole family, and staying there for a few days. I guess I also have free time for the days after that, leading up to New Years, then! I wanted to invite Hunk, since my family always insist I bring a friend, but he's going to visit Shay's family during that time…"

"Sorry dude," Hunk called, from the other side of the room, where he was working on making decorations from his baking, enchanting them to last permanently.

"I guess I'll have to tell them that I won't be able to bring anyone with me this year, unless, that is, you're willing to come?" He turned to Allura, who shook her head sadly.

"I made plans for my family to meet Alia during the yuletide, and she is going to introduce me to her family." Allura smiled joyfully, thinking of her girlfriend. They hadn't been going out for long, but they had a soulmate connection, and they found themselves falling for each other immediately. "Sorry, Lance. But, perhaps you could invite your other friend? Keith? I mean, Thalia and Alyse already like him, and he seemed to like them, so you could see if he would join you?"

Allura looked over at Lance, her eyes flickering to Hunk for a second, before returning to him. Lance didn't notice.

"I guess I could see what he's up to… He's probably busy with Katie and Matt though." Lance frowned.

"Katie and Matt don't really celebrate Yuletide all that much; neither of them have much of an interest in magic, beyond the simple. They're more into science. Besides, I'm sure Keith would rather celebrate the existence of Magic with you and your magic-loving family than play video games and read books for a week with the Holts," Hunk piped in, grinning over at his friend.

"Uh, yeah, I guess I could see…"

Lance flushed slightly red under the attention, extremely grateful when the bell on the door rang softly, indicating a customer.

"Is the store, uh, open?"

"Cal!" Lance grinned at her from behind the counter, grinning at her joyfully. Her eyes were no longer the purple they had been when he had last seen her, but rather a bright, sparkling blue. As well as that, her hair was pulled back, out of her face, into a long ponytail, cascading down her back.

"Hey, what up Lance. Forgot you work here." She grinned teasingly at him, and he held a hand over his heart in fake sorrow.

"I can't believe you forgot about me so easily!" He faked a wounded expression for a few seconds, before smiling at her once more. "No purple today?"

"Huh? Oh, right. The eyes. Nah, I actually only got the contacts the day before I met you, and was testing them out. They were supposed to be as part of a costume for some big magic event, but, well, I ended up not going, and so they've just been sat in my room ever since…"

"The day before?" Lance's voice was small and quiet, and the grin had fallen into a disheartened frown. He hadn't been completely sure that she was his soulmate, but he had been desperately hoping that it was the case. She was a really cool girl, and he would've been happy to be with her for the rest of his life.

"Yeah. Anyway, can I get two drinks to go? Would love to stay and chat, but I don't wanna leave my girl waiting."

"Your girl?"

"Yeah, my soulmate! She's so beautiful. She's amazing. She's so sweet. I'm sure you would love her, she's kind of like you, in a way. But female and much more innocent."

"Oh."

Calliope ordered the drinks, before paying and quickly slipping out of the shop, where she met up with a girl outside the shop. The girl had caramel coloured hair, soft flowers braided into a crown upon her head, a flowery dress flowing from her shoulders to knees. Like Calliope had said, she was beautiful. He could see how much they adored one another from their smiles, even from such a distance.

"Hey… Lance, are you okay?" Allura asked softly, a few minutes after she left. "You haven't said a word since your friend left…"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Lance pulled a smile onto his face, and despite knowing it didn't meet his eyes, and that Allura saw through it in an instant, he kept up the smile, until she sighed and walked back to her station, leaving the boy on his own.

"Alright, Lance. What's up."

As soon as the two of them finished work, and had returned to their apartment, Hunk turned to Lance with a frown. He glared at the boy, something he rarely did.

"You've been in an off mood ever since that girl, Cal, showed up at work this morning, as we were opening. You were so happy beforehand, was it to do with the other girl she left with?"

Lance sighed, looking up at the other boy with a blank stare.

"No… yes… I don't know. It was just, I met her a few weeks ago, middle of November. Two weeks after I met my soulmate. A few days after I was completely rejected by them once more. When I saw her, I was confident that she _must_ have been Shadow. She had the same bright purple eyes, and her hair was dark, falling in her face. I guess, I had just assumed that she was the one I had been looking for… But Shadow had rejected me, because they didn't want to be my soulmate? So instead of outwardly claiming I thought she might be my soulmate, informing her that she was the Shadow I had been searching for, I tried to become friends… But… she's not the one…"

"But… she had blue eyes when she walked in this morning?"

"Contacts. I had assumed she had just also been wearing them that night, but I was wrong. She only purchased them the day before we met, so she couldn't have had purple eyes that day. And then when she told me she was getting drinks for herself and her soulmate, it just threw me. So once more, I don't know who they are, and I feel even more lost than before. What if the purple eyes _were_ just contacts? They were my only clue! Well, that and the fact that their magical colour is an intense red. But so many people have red magic that it is completely meaningless to even try to search."

Lance hung his head, tears threatening to fall, and milliseconds later he found himself engulfed in a Hunk hug.

"Aww, it's okay, Buddy! You sit down on the sofa, I'll grab some ice cream and we can spend the rest of the day eating junk food and watching terrible movies until you feel better! I know you love commenting on the movies and getting totally into them."

"Thanks man… This is why I love you… Are you sure you aren't my soulmate instead of Shay's?"

Hunk laughed, watching the genuine smile form on Lance's face, and set to work on making the boy feel better.

* * *

A/N

So I know this isn't the best and it's more of a filler chapter BUT I have the next few (sort of) planned, and I needed to set the scene beforehand, so here you go! Enjoy your shorter-than-usual chapter. But because this is shorter, I can hopefully provide you with two more chapters in the next two days! I've managed to pull myself back ahead of schedule with this, thanks to my writing late last night and this morning, so I hope you all enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10 - Dancing and Dares

There was light snow falling across the whole city, gentle and sparking, soft white clouds hovering overhead, filling all inhabitants with joy as they buzzed as Yule time approached faster and faster. It was only a week until it began, and decorations flooded the streets, sparkling lights in every shop.

Allura and Lance were dancing together in the shop, putting on a show for all the customers, as Lance's nieces and nephew copied them, also dancing. Lana and Thalia were dancing together, while Alyse danced with Percy, the small boy giggling joyfully at his older cousin.

"So, are you looking forward to later?" Lance asked Allura, twirling her with a smile.

"Yeah! It's been so long since I hung out with any friends, I'm so excited!" Allura grinned at him, before looking down. Lana was there, a grin on her face, her brown eyes sparkling joyfully.

Lance released Allura, who started dancing with Lana, picking up the small girl in her arms, bouncing her around as she giggled. Lance turned to Thalia, and the small blonde girl grinned up at him, before taking a seat at a nearby table. He sat opposite her, and she sat up on the chair, reaching her hands out across the table in front of her.

"Look!" She said, firmly. She held her hands a few centimetres apart, and focussed hard. He could tell she was trying to focus from the expression on her face; her eyes scrunched up in determination, her lips stuck out in a pout. He soon noticed what she was trying to show him. She had managed to make a visible spark of colour; a green colour, like that of the ocean. The blend of his eyes and hers, bright and calm.

The spark in her hand danced around joyfully, before it began to take shape, turning into a glowing bunny, which began to hop around the shop, before fading out. Percy stopped dancing with Alyse to reach for it, and Alyse turned to Lance questioningly, before realising that it was Thalia who had made it, instead. Her eyes turned wide with amazement.

"I've been practicing all week to try and do that! I tried to remember what you taught me about making shapes and what Allura taught me about control and what Keef taught me about how magic works! He said that you don't tell magic what to do, you ask it to do things, and you have to feel it in your heart." Thalia mumbled, thoughtfully.

"Right…" Lance muttered.

Shortly after that, Adrian and Mika arrived to pick up the small ones.

"Aunty Mika!" Thalia exclaimed, "Look what I can do!"

The once more made her bunny hop around the store, glowing brighter than it had before, bouncing over by the twins, who tried to catch it excitedly, before calling it back to her.

"Wow Thalia! You've been working so hard at magic! You're just like your Uncle Lance! He loved making illusions when he was your age, too!" Mika grinned at the little girl, messing up her hair as she walked over to the twins.

"Hey Allura, hope it wasn't too much trouble for you, watching over the five kids," She pointed her thumb in Lance's direction, receiving a exclamation of 'hey!' in response.

"Oh no! Don't worry about it, Mika! Lana and Percy are so small and cute and sweet! They just add to the joyful atmosphere around here! You know I'd be happy to watch them any time." Allura smiled softly at the taller girl, completely sincere.

"Ahhh! Allura, you might not want to say that. I jokingly said that when I was like 11, that if she ever had kids I'd watch them whenever she wanted, and now I see them more than she does!" Mika shoved Lance away, rolling her eyes at his dramatics.

"Hey Lancelot, thanks for watching the midgets again! I know Thalia can be a little bit troublesome with her magic obsession, but then, I guess you'd know all about that." Adrian gave Lance a pointed look, and the younger boy scratched his head.

"Sorry, when I showed her magic I didn't think it'd have such a strong influence on her… Alyse never really obsessed over it, never showed that much interest beyond simply liking the colours."

"You were the same, when you first discovered magic. Simply couldn't get enough of it. Learning everything you could from Mari. She's a lot like you, Thalia. I can trust you to help her with magic, right? You know Kira and I don't really know anything about it, and Mari is too busy to see the kids these days…"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll be happy to teach her all I know, and Allura and Keith are happy to teach her what they can, too."

"Keith? Oh, the boy who babysat with you the other week. She mentioned him a few times when talking about magic." Adrian smiled at his younger brother, before calling over the two young girls. "Come on, it's almost Dinner, we should get home before your mother gets upset!"

Later that evening, at Altea House, which was owned by her father, Alfor Altea, Lance met up with the rest of his friends. Katie, Keith, Hunk, Allura and Lance had decided, since they were about to start their holidays, that they should all hang out. Allura suggested her place, since it was the largest, and had the most space for them to sleep, without disrupting the rest of the household.

"Ok Keith, Katie! Glad you could make it!" Allura greeted them with a smile, as she saw them waiting as the three of the Ethereal employees arrived, having finished their shifts. "I hope you haven't been waiting long."

"Nah," Katie brushed it off, "Keith lives in one of the rentable apartments here anyway, so we've just been chilling out there."

"So!" Lance exclaimed, catching everyone's attention as he rubbed his hands together, in an attempt to warm them up, "Shall we get this party started!"

The five went indoors, and all but Lance were amazed by the interior. Lance had been to Allura's home once before, and had stood amazed by the high ceilings and archways, seemingly impossible considering the exterior, but he of all people, being an expert in illusion magic, or so he considered himself, knew that none should judge a book by its cover, because with a simple charm, the interior could be increased endlessly, so the possibilities were endless. It was almost pointless building large houses, since their exterior was mostly just for the aesthetic, and could easily be corrected by charms, but many preferred the traditional type of housing, where the size of the exterior matched that of the interior. Lance was sure he would never understand the benefits of that. It just made building take longer, and use more resources. Though, on the other hand, hiring someone to extend the interior could be costly too, and the quality of the spell could strongly affect the longetivity.

"Wow Allura… This place is massive! I knew you were rich, but damn! So, where do I set this up?" Katie examined her surroundings in awe, before she moved her thoughts back to her tech, and turned her focus to the games console Lance could see peeking out of her bag.

Oh, you can set that up in the movie theatre, if you'd like! The screen is nice and large, and uses a projector so everyone will be able to see it easily!"

"Sweet!"

"What game did you bring?"

"Legendary Defender."

"Sweet! I'm Blue!"

"I'm totally playing as Red."

"OoH! Ooh! I wanna be yellow!"

"I think we unlocked another Paladin after the last level, so Allura can join as the new character! Since obviously I'm green."

"I have no idea what you all mean by these colours, but I'm totally up for whatever it is you're suggesting!"

"Welcome to the team, fellow Paladin. I'm Lance, the Blue Paladin. I'm the leader, regardless of the fact that the Black Paladin is in command and Red in second. This here is our Red Paladin, Keith. Swordfighter, hothead, didn't do much against Sendak. Then we have Hunk, the Yellow Paladin, the Cannon. He's wonderful. Then finally, Katie. Green Paladin, Midget, Tech nerd. That's our team. Plus the NPC, Sven, the Black Paladin."

"Lance… I know who you all are… You didn't have to reintroduce everyone…"

"Cmon, Allura! You're ruining all the fun! Let's get this game started!"

Three hours later, after they managed to pass through a few more levels, they decided to take a break from the game. Keith, who had assumed role of the leader of the team after Sven died, was having trouble leading the team, and Lance was a little put out that he _still_ wasn't the leader. Allura had progressed from the Princess to a Paladin, taking Sven's place as the 5th after he died.

"Hey, Allura? Is it cool if I bring the kittens over? Jade is round at Keith's place, with Red and Azula, but I don't like leaving her alone too long?" Katie looked over to Allura hopefully, and the girl's eyes lit up with joy.

"Kittens! Of course! Please, I want to meet them all! I've always wanted a kitten…"

"Hey, Allura, do you want me to cook up some food for dinner? I'd be perfectly happy to!" Hunk grinned at the white haired girl, and she beamed.

"That'd be lovely, Hunk! Oh, Katie could I come with you to see the Kittens!"

Hunk, Allura and Katie all left the room, off on their various tasks, leaving Lance to claim all of the sofa for himself, Keith sat on the floor in front, leaning against it.

"So, uh, Keith."

"Yeah?"

"What are you up to over the Yule time?"

"I, uh, don't know. Probably just stay at home reading most days, work on my book a little more… Why?"

"Well, uh…" Lance scratched the back of his neck, laying down and staring up at the ceiling, a flush on the flustered boy's face, "I was wondering if you want to come spend it with me and my family?"

Keith turned his head up and left, resting it on the sofa as he looked at Lance.

"Why?"

"Well, uh, my family, well," he stuttered, "Since I'm the only one of my siblings without a partner or kids my mum likes me to bring a friend with me when we all get together? Usually I would bring Hunk but he's busy and so is Allura and you're my friend too and so I thought you might want to come? It's only for a few days, not too long, but it'l be fun, I mean, two of my nieces already love you?"

"Okay."

"Okay you'll come?"

"Yeah."

"Okay! Awesome! I'll, uh, text you the information when I get the chance! Awesome!" Lance grinned up at the ceiling, his face flushed red in embarrassment from asking.

"We're back!" Katie shouted, "And we have Kittens!"

"Keith! Azula is so cute! How is her fur so soft! It's so pretty and clean!" Allura gushed to Keith, babbling on about how much she loved Azula, who had curled up in her arms as she talked, the lazy kitten purring contently.

Red followed Katie and Jade into the room, before jumping up onto the sofa and climbing across Lance to take a seat in the centre of his stomach.

"Oi, Lance, move up! I wanna sit!" Katie commanded, before spotting Lance's expression.

"Can't. I have been chosen." Katie noticed red, and sighed resignedly. "Red, boy, you're causing me trouble. I know you don't like me… but really?" Katie took a seat elsewhere. "Alright. So, how about we play a little game."

"I'm not sure I like where this is going."

"Keith, chill! It's nothing dangerous or life threatening! Just a little game of truth or dare!"

"That sounds like fun!"

"Nice."

"Oh no… We're all doomed…"

"So, who wants to go first!"

"I'll do it?" Allura looked at Katie nervously, after Keith's expressions of horror at the suggestion were brought to her attention.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Truth?"

"How old were you when you first started learning magic?"

"Nine. My father started teaching me the basics, and from there, I taught myself the rest. Lance! Truth or Dare?"

"Truth!"

"Have you met your soulmate?" Allura looked at him inquisitively, and Lance figured that she had heard snippets of the conversations between himself and Hunk.

"Yes? I mean, I think so? But also, no? I've met them, but I don't know who they are."

"Well, that's cryptic." Katie rolled her eyes, and Lance turned to her with a smirk.

"Katie, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to ask out every person you see tomorrow until someone says yes." Katie's eyes turned cold, and Lance knew that he had sparked the evil inside her. She was out for revenge.

"Keith. Truth or Dare."

"Truth?" Keith was nervous. He knew Katie, and he knew that she was up to something. He just hoped that whatever she was planning didn't involve him. He _really_ didn't want to be involved.

"Who was your first kiss?" Keith looked at Katie suspiciously. He knew that she wasn't interested in anything romantic or to do with relationships, so clearly, she was up to something.

"Someone at a party."

"Keiiiith," Lance complained, "You've gotta specify. Otherwise it's not a truth!"

"I don't know who it was! It was dark, and we were dressed up."

"Then what about a second one?"

Keith flushed red, and looked down at his feet.

"Keith hasn't kissed anyone else," Katie stated passively, certain what she was saying was true by the boy's silence. Lance looked at Keith curiously, as though he expected the boy to correct her. He didn't.

"Allura! Truth or Dare!"

"Truth."

"Most awkward moment."

"That would probably have to be when I told my boyfriend that I was a lesbian? I think that qualifies? There was a very long awkward silence… and then I had to confirm that I was breaking up with him. It was _very_ awkward."

"That was Shiro, right?" Lance looked over to Keith, who had spoken up once more.

"Yeah. How do you know Shiro?" A confused expression was plastered across Allura's face.

"Matt and Shiro were pretty close when they were growing up, but they had an argument and stopped talking and we didn't really hear much after that, except random things about him from Matt, who was still in the same classes as Shiro. He was dating a 'beautiful, dark skinned girl with the most amazing blue eyes and silky white hair'. I think Matt had a crush on you. Then he later came back with the news that his girlfriend had broken up with him by coming out. Matt seemed to find that rather entertaining. Not sure why. They drifted apart when they were like, 16 though. Don't know why."

"Huh, weird."

"Anyway, Lance! Truth or Dare!"

"Dare?"

"Go make me a hot chocolate." Lance rolled his eyes and headed to the kitchen, thankful that Kaatie had given him a fairly easy dare, rather than something that would be embarrassing for him. He heard the game continue without him, but wasn't particularly bothered.

"Hey buddy, how's the food coming along?"

"It's coming along pretty good. What are you up to in there?"

"Truth or Dare."

Hunk let out a low whistle, before smiling.

"Glad I'm in here cooking, surprised Keith didn't try to make an escape, though."

Lance looked around the kitchen for the supplies for the hot chocolate.

"Why?"

"You don't know Katie like we do. She's always plotting and scheming, and I bet she's trying to figure something out, or got some kind of plan going on. I'd rather not get involved in that. Katie uses her truths and dares well, making each one count. Why are you in here, anyway?"

"Katie dared me to make her a hot chocolate… How would that be part of a plan?"

"Well, I suppose if she wanted you out of the room, that'd be a good way to do it. I don't know what she'd be doing with Keith and Allura though. Honestly, I try not to figure out what she's thinking, it can be very counterproductive, and usually, its best if I don't get involved."

Lance sighed, and quickly made the hot chocolate, before returning to the living room, leaving Hunk to his cooking.

When he re-entered the room, Katie was sat smugly on the sofa, Allura was gone from the room, potentially off on a dare like he had been, and Keith was sat with his face in his hands, refusing to look up.

"What happened while I was gone? Please tell me you didn't kill Allura?"

"Oh, you know, just revealing some embarrassing truths, eh Keith."

Keith looked up to glare at Katie, his face flushed a deep red, before turning his attention to Red, who was brushing against him, purring gently.

"Well, I'm done with my torment now! I'm going to go see what Allura's up to, let's take a break from the game for now." Katie took the hot chocolate and left the room, leaving the two boys alone.

"You alright, Keith, buddy?"

The dark haired boy huffed in response.

"You look pretty embarrassed, what, did she force you to reveal a crush or something."

Keith's head snapped up, flushing deeper. He didn't seem to notice.

"I do _not_ have a crush." He glared up at the ceiling, resting his head back on the sofa, next to where Lance had taken a seat. "I don't."

"Sounds fake, but okay…"

"I don't! She's just doing her thing of trying to confuse me! I don't get what her interest is, anyway. She hates all romance things, and I'm not exactly that big on it either."

"What is there to dislike about romance? Finding your soulmate, the person in this world who is the perfect fit for you?"

"I thought you said your relationship with yours is complicated, so how would you know you're a perfect fit. Surely if you were, you'd already be together. No, soulmates aren't that great."

"Well yeah, it is complicated, but that's the thing. If it's fated, it'll happen anyway, whether we like it or not. If it isn't? Well, no point worrying about what isn't going to happen, right? If you don't want to try and find your soulmate, don't. Maybe they'll find you. Maybe you won't have one. I say just let life take its course."

"It's hard to let life play out with Katie trying to interfere with every affair. How does she seem to know _everything._ She might not be right, but still. Do you think she's secretly a mind reader?"

Lance laughed at the other boy, grinning down at him, as he smiled up. "I'm sure she is, maybe that's why she's so freakishly smart. Studies by reading other people's minds and downloads all the information."

The two boys grinned at each other, and came up with silly theories and concepts until Katie, Hunk and Allura returned, bringing food with them.

That night, the group, who decided to name themselves the Paladins, in honour of their successful Legendary Defender team, continued to play various games, make jokes and thoroughly enjoy themselves.

* * *

A/N Edit- I merged part 1 and 2 so the below A/Ns probably make less sense but i don't want to delete them,, oh well.

A/N

Sorry it's short, this is part two of the previous chapter. I've been kinda ill today, had a fever and slept in, missing my first lesson and assembly, which may be the fault of my own for staying up till 4am, but when you're reading fanfiction and you're tired, there is no such thing as rational thought. And when it's a 145K fic? It was totally worth it. Even if I only attended one lesson, and slept through it anyway.

Will try and get some better content for you guys soon. I'm still on track, less than before, but still a little on track. So I will keep working, I have a goal for this, and I'm around half way there now.

-Later

A/N

Okay so this is kinda part one of the chapter, but i said i'd have something posted and it had been a few days. I'm kind of unmotivated to write and im approaching the 'romance' section of this slow burn fic. Most of you don't know this but im actually Aromantic. So romance isn't easy for me to write. Because I don't understand it or experience it really. So sorry if my romance writing sucks. Anyway, I'd really appreciate any reviews given, they really help build up my motivation and I really do want to write this for you all. I'm almost half way through this fic atm! Goal is 50k. Hopefully it'll be done by December!

-See ya next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11 - Icicles and Introductions

A knock at the door startled Lance, as he finished packing all of the essentials, and all his other non-essential essentials, into his suitcase.

"Lance? You ready to go?"

Lance mentally confirmed that he had packed everything that he could possibly need, before going to answer the door.

Standing in front of the door, snowflakes softly falling around him, Keith stood beaming, a sparkle in his eye, as he was unable to contain his excitement for the holidays.

"All good, I've got everything, let's head out!"  
Lance took one last look into his apartment, before heading out of the door, to the car which was waiting for them.

"Maria! You're here!" Lance grinned with as much enthusiasm as he could possibly manage, as he went to greet his sister.

"Lance, chill, it's barely been a Month since I last saw you." Maria raised an eyebrow at her overdramatic brother.

"A whole month! That's like,, 100 days!"

"That's... Not right," Keith mumbled, quietly, receiving a small smile from Maria.

"Hurry up and throw your bags into the trunk, it's freezing out here, and Mika and Adrian are already there, we don't want to keep them waiting _too_ long, Lance."

"Right! Sorry! Let's go!"

For most of the Journey, Lance and Maria had their music playing, and they sang along at the top of their lungs, with the widest smiles gracing their features, with no cares whatsoever about how neither one of them could carry a tune particularly well, or that the high notes completely escaped them.

Keith sat in the back seat, enjoying the experience, but keeping quiet and to himself, uncertain about how to act around Maria. After some coaxing from Lance, he eventually joined in with the singing, but was much more subdued than the other two, restraining himself from singing as intensely as the other two.

Once they finally reached Lance's Grandparents' Lodge, in the forest, two hours later, they were all rather quiet, having taken a break for silence, to rest tired voices.

Ahead of them, the Lodge looked straight out of a painting, with a heavy layering of snow covering the ground, snowflakes falling, but light enough to only coat the snow with an extra layer of glitter. The soft, warm tones of the wood against the stark, white snow brought the Lodge to life, differentiating it from the many, many trees surrounding it. Lance felt his soul fill up with joy, as the Lodge brought back so many happy, childhood memories. He turned to grin at Keith, who was staring at the scene in awe, taking in the beauty.

"Cmon, Keith! Everyone's waiting inside for us; I've still got to introduce you to the rest of my family."

The three went inside, leaving their footsteps in the snow, much deeper than they had expected, all three covered in snow to just above the ankles, dreading the snow melting into their clothing.

"Uncle Lance! Auntie Maria! Keith! You're here!"

Alyse and Thalia appeared at the door instantly, having been waiting at the door since the car pulled up, but holding back as they were told not to go outdoors, since they had just dried off from the snow.

"Hey Kids!" Maria said, smiling down at the two girls, who were beaming with pure glee. "Do you two wanna show me where the tree is, so that I can add all of your gifts to the pile?"

The kids ran off, Maria in tow, leaving the two boys at the door, with their luggage.

"So, I should probably quickly introduce you to my family, since we're gonna be here five days and you probably would rather meet them than awkwardly avoid them and be anonymous for five days, then we can go ditch our stuff and figure out what to do from there."

"Alright, let's go meet your siblings."

"Percy, sweetie, can you put that down? Lana! Get off that! Oh Adrian don't just laugh, help me out! I helped you when Thalia and Alyse were this troublesome!"

"I'll help you out, Mika, since my _husband_ is too busy laughing."

"Hey cmon Kira, she's my little sister, I'm allowed to laugh at her struggles, she laughed at mine!"

Before they even entered the main living room, the two boys could tell that the room was overflowing with chaos, even without the older two troublemakers in the room.

"Hey Mika, need a hand?"

"Uncle Lance!" the two kids chorused, distracted from their mayhem for a few seconds, giving the three adults a chance to grab the kids, putting a stop to their reign of chaos.

"I think we're good, for now. Who's your friend?" Mika raised an eyebrow at her younger brother, glancing to the other boy, who was standing rather close to Lance.

"This is Keith."

"Oh! So you're Keith! Thalia talks about you a lot, how you've been helping her with her magic." Adrian smiled at the dark haired boy.

"You didn't tell me he was cute," Mika whispered to Lance, causing him to blush slightly.

"Keith, these are my siblings." Lance ignored Mika's comment, moving straight to introductions. Keith looked at the three adults stood before him, noting the resemblance that two had to Lance, assuming the third must be his sister in law.

"Adrian, Kira, Mika." Lance gestured to each sibling, "Keith. And, of course, Lana and Percy."

"Hey, nice to finally meet you guys." Keith smiled sincerely.

"Nice to meet you too, Keith."

"Still don't believe Keith has any friends other than Lance."

"Hey! I have loads of friend's i'll have you know! I probably have more friends than you!"

"Why haven't we met these friends then, huh?"

"They're just busy! And you're busy!"

"Are you sure they're not just imaginary?"

"Boys." The boys went silent as their mother walked into the room, staring disapprovingly at the two of them. "Adrian, stop picking on your brother. Lance, stop falling for it." She turned to Keith with a smile. "You must be Keith. So great to finally meet you."

"You too."

"Alright, ma, Keith and I are gonna go put are things up in our rooms… Where are we staying this year?"

"Since your brother is here this year, you two have to share the twin room."

"Are there not any other rooms spare ma?" Lance complained.

"You and Hunk have been fine in that room in past years, and your brother doesn't visit very often, so he gets priority."

Lance frowned, but led Keith back to where they had left their luggage, before heading upstairs.

"This place is so much bigger than it looks…" Keith said, awed.

"Extension charms, my grandparents were especially good at them, so they're completely stable, and have been for years."

"What's wrong with the room that they offered?"

"Well…" Lance opened a door to his right, and walked in, with Keith in tow. "It's just one room. Usually Hunk and I get our own rooms, en-suite, but when Loki's here, Mika and the twins take one of the singles, and Loki takes the other, rather than Mika taking the twin room, for the girls, and Hunk and I getting a room each. Are you alright with sharing?"

Keith nodded slightly, his composure not faltering at all, despite the faint blush as he looked at the small, twin room. "I shared with Matt and Katie a lot when we were younger, before I got my own place, so I'm used to it."

"I used to have to share with Adrian and Loki, but then the extension charms made our small houses big enough for all of us to have our own room, but even extension charms have limits."

The boys each chose a side of the room, and began to unpack their things, into the empty wardrobes and drawers, before each going to change into some warmer, more appropriate clothes for the snow.

"So, Keith." Lance said, once the two were all sorted. "You wanna go explore the forests?"

"Go out into the dark forests when its covered in snow, freezing outside with no idea where I'm going?" Keith raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like fun. Let's go."

"Sweet, I wanna show you this clearing I used to hang out at all the time in the past. You're a fan of magic, I'm sure you're gonna love it."

Strings of light ran through the trees, magic particles frozen in ice to form crystalised beams, shining down onto the forest floor, where only a soft layer of frost lay across the ground, tiny snowflake patterns noticeable across the entirety of the forest floor. Sunlight flickered through the canopy, light twinkling as the ice glittered in the sunlight, refracting light like a million tiny diamonds. Tiny shadows flickered through, as small fae flew quickly to their destination, limiting their time in the snow as much as possible, to stay warm.  
"This is my place. It's where I grew up. It's much more beautiful on a full moon, when the magic's at its strongest, and there are more fae creatures around when the weather is warmer, but it's especially beautiful when it's cold enough to snow…"

"It's amazing… Thank you, Lance."

 **A/N**

 _Things are just starting now._  
Okay so massive apologies about the fact that my last update was November 15th.. 2017, and that it's November 30th 2018… technically it's still November?  
I stopped writing because after reaching the point where I fell asleep in Class, I couldn't keep writing, because my studies were falling apart, and I always throw myself in too deep. I was looking through my emails for once and saw notifications and remembered this story existed.. and decided I kinda want to continue. I apologise if my writing style has changed a lot, but it has been a year, and if continuity is a little messy, please forgive me. I think I remember most of my planning, though, so I'll do my best to continue, and hopefully, it won't be another _year_ until my next update. Voltron Season 8 comes out in a few weeks, which I still can't believe, but I'll still try my best to finish this. Thanks to anyone who decided to read, and once again, I'm so sorry I forgot about this story. It's been a long year. I hope this update makes up for things a little?


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